Branchburg's public record, explained

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Branchburg uses the Township Committee form of government: five members elected at-large to staggered three-year terms, who perform the township's legislative, executive and administrative functions, including ordinances, appointments and financial management, as the township's government page states. The Committee chooses the Mayor from its own membership for a one-year term; the Mayor votes as a member, presides at meetings and signs checks and contracts, and the title confers no additional authority except as provided by law.

The 2026 Committee page lists Mayor James Schworn, Deputy Mayor Brendon Beatrice and Committee members Thomas Young, Anna Columbus and David Owens. The adopted budget's data sheet gives term expirations of Dec. 31, 2026 for Mayor Schworn, Dec. 31, 2027 for Deputy Mayor Beatrice and Anna Columbus, and Dec. 31, 2028 for Thomas Young and David Owens. The Committee also serves as the township's Board of Health, with Municipal Clerk Maggie Schmitt as its secretary; the Clerk's office handles records and OPRA requests. The Committee created an Administrator position in 1979; the 2026 user-friendly budget lists Chief Administrative Officer Gregory J. Bonin.

Land-use applications go to the Planning Board, which meets at 7:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday, and the Board of Adjustment, which meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday and third Wednesday. The Committee and Board of Health meet at 7:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday — all in the Municipal Building courtroom. The township also lists advisory bodies, among them the Environmental Commission, the Parks and Open Space Committee and the Wildlife Management Committee, on its boards and commissions page.

Meeting video is on the township's Granicus archive, and Committee meetings are broadcast on BBTV (Comcast 27, Verizon 46). Agendas and minutes are posted on the township's Documents-On-Demand portal, linked from its Agendas/Minutes page. Granicus's caption files publish no readable text.

A Branchburg tax bill pays three budgets. Mayor James Schworn's 2026 annual letter describes the split as approximately 60% to the school district, 20% to Somerset County and 20% to municipal government. The user-friendly budget shows the 2025 lines as 59.10% local schools, 17.83% municipal purposes and a separate 2.93% municipal open space, with county purposes, the county library and county open space making up the rest. The Township Committee sets only the municipal budget.

The 2026 municipal budget appropriates $28,437,328.59 and raises a municipal-purpose levy of $16,504,732 — $1,497,931 (9.98%) above 2025 — plus an open-space levy of $2,671,898.30. Its six-year capital plan totals $39,021,000 for roads, parks, equipment and buildings; the budget says separate lawful authorization is required before any of it is spent. The 2025 audit, dated Aug. 3, 2026, gave the township an unmodified opinion on its regulatory-basis statements and lists no recommendations. The adopted budget, the user-friendly budget and the 2025 audit are posted on the township website.