Zoning changes could help stabilize Millstone taxes
Mayor sees new school as last one that will have to be built
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - Zoning changes enacted in the township in recent years will significantly reduce the number of children entering township schools in the future.

Mayor Nancy Grbelja made the announcement - which is one of the conclusions of a recent demographic study on the township's recreational needs - at the June 6 Township Committee meeting.

Grbelja had previously received criticism from some community members for voting May 2 to approve a $30.3 million school budget and three out of four additional funding questions that voters turned down in the April 17 Board of Education election.

At the June 6 meeting, the mayor said that master plan changes implemented in 2003, which gave much of the township 6-acre and 10-acre zoning, will "greatly reduce" the number of children entering into the township's school system.

According to the demographic study conducted by Environmental Resolutions Inc., of Mount Laurel, the school population had a 7 percent increase in 2001-02 and a 9 percent increase in 2002-03.

Due to projected township growth, the report projects minor increases in the student population between 2007 and 2011.

The report approximates the current Millstone population at 10,000 people. According to the study, the population of the township, as a result of its current zoning, is projected to be 13,980 in 2030.

For the study, the township provided projections of its build-out condition.

The report states, "Millstone projected that, based on remaining parcels and their size and zoning, the township could accommodate an additional 1,590 units."

The additional units would yield an increase in population of 5,215 persons beyond the 2005 population of 9,810 for a build-out population of 15,025 residents, according to the report.

"Given the current growth trend, the build-out of 1,590 units or population of 15,025 residents is not expected to be reached until sometime after 2030," the report states.

Grbelja said that the school district could already absorb the number of children expected at build-out.

"With the opening of the middle school, that should be it," she said.

The new middle school on Baird Road is scheduled to open this fall.

"We're moving in the right direction and should be leveling [the school population]," she said.

Grbelja noted that three-quarters of local property taxes goes to the school district.

The school tax rate in Millstone will increase by about 21 cents this year and will be $1.99 per $100 of assessed value.

During the May 2 public hearing, some senior citizens said they could not afford the higher school taxes.

At that time, Laura Matthews, a nonsenior resident who has children in the school district, said she does not want a tax increase but that she moved to the town for its good school system.

"When I'm older, I'll probably be living in a senior community with like-minded people," she said.

At the June 6 meeting, Grbelja said she does not want any senior residents or people without children to feel unwelcome in the community. She also pointed out that she does not have kids.

"I don't want to have anyone say to me, 'If you can't afford to live here, get out,' " Grbelja said. "I want to make Millstone affordable to all who live here."

Grbelja stressed that no one on the Township Committee has suggested that seniors should move out of town.

"Because of the new demographic information and changes in the zoning," she said, "there should be a leveling off of taxes."