What happens next
$5,256,850 in short-term notes mature on December 10, 2026, and the 2026 budget has no money set aside to pay them down. Watch the Township Committee agendas for November 12, December 3 and December 17, 2026 for a renewal, paydown or bond sale.
Montgomery borrows through bonds and short-term notes, and it pays for its Municipal Complex and
library through a county lease. Each year’s budget sets how much of that is repaid and how much is
raised in property tax.
Debt. The 2025 audit shows the township’s net issued debt fell during 2025, from $64,157,382.54
to $59,608,497.61. Statutory net debt was 0.614% of equalized property value; the legal limit is
3.5%. The audit’s one-page synopsis shows “Bonds and Notes Payable” rising from $64.9 million to
$91.8 million, but its 2025 figure counts, for the first time, $31.7 million owed under the Somerset
County Improvement Authority lease for the Municipal Complex and library. The 2024 figure leaves it
out. The audit does not say why the lease was added.
The 2026 budget. The Committee adopted a $34,733,531.40 budget 5-0 on May 14, 2026, with the
same totals it introduced on April 16. It raises $20,270,740.50 in property tax, 4.30% more than in
2025 and $0.54 under the 2% levy cap. The township’s presentation describes the change two other
ways: a 3.49% rise in the core budget and a 4.39% rise in the tax rate. The Mayor’s statement at
adoption summarized it as “Tax increase 3.49%, excluding grants” (minutes). Before adoption, residents
presented a petition with more than 500 signatures asking for $3 million in cuts.
On the bill. Of the 2026 general tax rate of 3.607 per $100 of assessed value, the township’s
share is 0.541, the county’s 0.609 and the schools’ 2.457.
What residents can do. Follow the December note maturity on the Committee agendas, read the
audit and budget (linked below), and comment at the public hearing on the 2027 budget, usually held
in the spring.