Pennington Example

I wanted to examine three identical families in the three municipalities, and consider how the proposed tax increase, Activity Fee, and Busing Fee will impact their annual tax bill.

This is the Pennington Borough example, it will be followed by Hopewell Borough and then Hopewell Township. In each example, the family will remain constant:

Valuation of home: $527,000 (Avg. Assessment)
Number of students: 2, one in middle school, other in high school
Location: Inside the Hazardous Busing region

So, lets look at Pennington Borough:

2006 Taxes paid: $5,713
2006 Activities Fees: $0 (included in 2006 taxes)
2006 Busing Fees: $0 (included in 2006 taxes)
2006 Total Taxes & Fees: $5,713

2007 Taxes (est.): $5,797 ($84 increase, both proposals approved)
2007 Activities Fees: $150 (100% increase)
2007 Busing Fees: $300 (100% increase)
2007 Total Taxes & Fees (est.): $6,247 (9.2% increase)

A 9.2% increase in out-of-pocket costs for a family with two students seems quite high for the same level of services. Of course, the Busing and Activity Fees are optional, but many consider the services they fund essential.