Online Update: The school budget passed by a vote of 1,193 to 360. The Borough reelected Rebecca Cox with 387 votes, and voted in newcomer Martha Land with 405 votes. Candidate Dudley Sipprelle received 197 votes. Patrick Sullivan, who ran unopposed for the single Township seat needing to be filled this year, received 741 votes.

Residents of the Township and the Borough will go to the polls on Tuesday to vote on the 2012-2013 proposed budget for the Princeton Regional School District, and to select (or at least confirm) candidates for Board seats. Polls will be open from noon to 9 p.m. (Although this is after our print press time, the results will be posted on our website on Wednesday morning).

As a result of consolidation, which will take effect on January 1, 2013, this is the last year that: the system will be known as “the Princeton Regional School District” (it will change to “Princeton Public Schools”); that separate candidates will run in each municipality; and that the consequent tax rate, if the budget is approved, will be computed separately for each municipality.

Operating under a two-percent cap imposed by the state, the Board approved a total operating budget of $75,607,106 for the 2012-13 school year. The total tax levy on area residents will be $63,434,108. In the Borough the budget translates to a $337 tax increase on a house with an estimated value of $748,155. Township residents will pay $906 based on an average home assessment of $822,262.

“This year, the proposed budget carries a flat one percent increase over 2011-12,” said Superintendent Judith Wilson. “It represents the ability to maintain -programs PK-12 but allows for very little growth in any way. This is reflective of our tight economic times and also fits within the State’s restrictions on public school tax levies.” A breakdown is available on the Princeton Regional School District’s web site and Facebook page.

In addition to weighing in on the budget on April 17, residents will also have an opportunity to select new board members. In the Borough, incumbent Rebecca Cox and newcomers Dudley Sipprelle and Martha Land are vying for two seats. There is just one candidate, Patrick Sullivan, for the single Township seat that is opening up.

Princetonians will be a minority among statewide residents going to the polls in April. Presented with the option of moving school elections to the general election in November, Board of Education members voted to keep the April date, ensuring that school concerns would not be confused with issues related to other races. The Board may choose to revisit this decision in the future.