Working to keep Hopewell Township affordable

Kevin D. Kuchinski FROM THE TOWNSHIP

One of the top priorities of the Hopewell Township Committee and its professionals is keeping the Township affordable for our current and future residents, while maintaining the highquality services currently offered.

Accomplishing this, especially given the high inflation of the past two years, has required a multi-faceted approach. Among the many areas of affordability, we focus on, two key ones are fiscal responsibility, which has led to our second consecutive year of a tax-rate decrease, and housing.

In terms of fiscal responsibility, the Township Committee is focused on finding new sources of revenue to lower taxes for current residents, while allowing us to enhance services.

The Hopewell Township Committee has worked hard over the years to attract new businesses to the Township. Doing so - often referred to as “increasing commercial ratables” - is important because as the base of commercial taxpayers grow, they are increasing our overall tax base and paying a higher proportion of the annual tax levy, allowing the overall tax rate to decrease. The growth in ratables has driven the progress towards a lower tax rate in recent years.

To that end, we’re particularly proud of the growth in our innovation economy, including the revitalization of the former Bristol Myers Squibb site. That site is now home to groundbreaking pharmaceutical companies with lifesaving treatments including PTC Therapeutics, BeiGene, Passage Bio, and Gennao Bio. And we’ve only seen a portion of the financial benefits to date of these efforts to the Township and residents.

In addition to fostering economic growth, the Township Committee has also focused on grant programs to support expanded services and other community initiatives at little to no cost to residents. Over the past four years the Township has cumulatively received over $10 million in outside grant funding, with total grant receipts growing from $1.1 million in 2020 to $4.8 million in 2023.

For context, our 2023 grants are equivalent to almost 20% of our annual municipal budget, helping keep the lid on residential property taxes.

These grants have supported important projects such as 911 call center upgrades, the new Senior & Community Center, as well as a new Bandshell in Woolsey Park among others.

In addition to fiscal responsibility, housing is a critical part of affordability in Hopewell Township. Having a diverse blend of housing is critically important to making our community attractive and affordable for residents. Without it, we would not be able to welcome young families to our community, allow aging residents to downsize and stay in the Township they know and love, and enable our children to find starter homes in our community, when they’re ready to move back.

We’re proud that Hopewell Township is meeting its legal and moral obligation to provide affordable housing. At a recent groundbreaking event for Homefront and 26 new affordable housing units, Mayor Michael Ruger shared:

It is wrong to offer a young police officer a job and tell her she needs to commute a long distance in order to take the job, because there is no place she can afford to live in the community she protects. It is wrong to hire a teacher to educate our children and not give him an opportunity to become part of the community, because there is no place he can afford to live. And it is wrong to tell a retired couple that they have to move, because there is no place they can afford to live.

That’s why more affordable housing options are necessary. And it’s the right thing to do.

I’m so fortunate to have had the opportunity to raise my family here in Hopewell Township and I look forward to working with the Township Committee to ensure we keep the Township affordable so others can have the same great opportunities.