A vacant apartment building along Route 440 in Hopelawn is being converted into supportive housing for residents with disabilities and high medical needs. A closing is expected in July.
Metuchen Council Adopts $31.1 Million Budget, Raising Municipal Taxes $159 on a $300,000 Home
Combined with school, county, and library taxes, the total property tax bill on that same home is expected to rise about $690, as the borough directs new spending toward police, capital projects, and infrastructure
Metuchen Borough Hall, 2018.
Editor’s note: The Central Jerseyan is free to read and supported by advertising. If you value this kind of local reporting and want to help sustain it, you can become a citizen supporter on Patreon. Your contribution helps fund continued coverage of local government, schools, and community issues.
David M. Levitt | August 18, 2026
The Borough Council last night approved a $31.1 million budget for 2026 that would raise municipal taxes by $159 on a home assessed at $300,000. Combined with school, county, and library taxes, the total property tax bill on that same home would rise by about $690.
The overall property tax would include $50.6 million for the school district and $11.9 million for Middlesex County. In both cases, the charge is only a tiny bit higher than the amounts they received last year. In 2025, the schools realized $49.1 million, and the county received $11.6 million.
For every tax dollar collected in property tax, 61 cents go to schools, 15 cents go to the county, 2 cents go to the Metuchen Public Library, leaving 22 cents for borough services, explained Councilmember Vinita Jethwani.
The budget appropriates $4.9 million to police and $681,000 to the fire department, with another $63,000 to emergency management.
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About $5.5 million in surplus, more than double the amount targeted last year ($2.4 million), is being applied as revenue, according to the budget. Almost $2 million, compared to last year’s $255,000, was appropriated for capital improvements. The capital budget identifies $12.2 million for road improvements, $1.3 million for paving Edgar Lot, $2.2 million for sewer infrastructure repairs and replacement, and $393,750 for a double-axle multi-lift truck with plow and a salter. Of the total $37 million identified in the budget for capital projects, $28.3 million is to be funded in future years.
“I know firsthand that in many towns residents actually get charged extra and separately for garbage and sewer,” Jethwani said. “Whereas in Metuchen, these services are included in our local taxes. The borough collects the entire tax bill for every resident. The borough sends back out almost 80 percent of what is collected.”
Councilmember Meg Loftus Suchan noted that the tax increase is close to 3.3 percent, according to figures in the budget document. In response to a question by Suchan, borough chief financial officer Rebecca “Becky” Cuthbert identified the items driving the increase as pensions, health care, salaries for municipal employees, the sewage utility and the library.
Cuthbert described this as a “special” year in that the borough was able to apply such a large surplus, though she said she was comfortable with the application of those funds.
“I would not be able to make that answer at my level of comfort had we not had a good history of generating surplus,” she said. “That would be a different conversation.”
Borough clerk Deborah Zupan identified the total amount to be raised by taxes, including a reserve for uncollected taxes, to be $18.4 million.
The reason the budget was unusually late this year – most municipalities complete their budgets during the spring – was that it was Metuchen’s turn for a state review, which happens every three years, officials said. The review only resulted in tweaks and marginal changes. Cuthbert noted there was only a net increase of $776.
Editor’s note: The Central Jerseyan is free to read and supported by advertising. If you value this kind of local reporting and want to help sustain it, you can become a citizen supporter on Patreon. Your contribution helps fund continued coverage of local government, schools, and community issues.
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