Mercer Co. Adopts 2024 Budget With Tax Raise. How Will It Affect You?

MERCER COUNTY, NJ – The Mercer County Board of Commissioners has adopted the Mercer County budget for 2024. This is the first budget passed under Mercer County Executive Dan Benson, who took office in January.

The budget for 2024 is $425,249,732.50 with the total amount to be raised by taxation of $322,506,708.34.

What does it mean for the municipal portion of resident’s taxes? The amount represents an equalized tax rate of 54.9 cents per 100 dollars of assessed value.

This is a 1.3 cent or 2.89% increase in the equalized rate over last year.

For the average home in Mercer accessed at $286,000, this would amount to an increase of $48.49.

This year's budget was especially challenging as the new administration said they faced financial challenges left over from the previous officer holder.

“In spite of the previous administration’s financial mismanagement, which left the county with 11 million in deferred charges, we still made the critical investments that will empower us to continue building a county government that truly works for everyone,” Benson said in the statement.

Mercer County has earmarked funds for several important initiatives in the 2024 budget. Some of them are:

• Formalizing the creation of the Public Health and Safety Department and the Community Services Department.
• Funding an Office of Travel and Tourism to build Mercer County’s brand as a tourism destination during the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, and beyond
• Expanding staffing at the procurement office, allowing the county to seek more contracts through a fair-and-open process, and improving data management for the county set-aside to enhance opportunities for minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses.
• Creating an office of LGBTQIA+ services to assist the community with their needs and connect its members with key services
• Conducting a full audit of Mercer County’s IT systems and capabilities, to improve services and security
• Providing funding for comprehensive facilities and 360° assessment of the Mercer County Corrections Center, the first step towards systematically updating the facility

“I want to thank Chairman John Cimino, Vice-Chairwoman Kristin McLaughlin, and our entire Board of Commissioners for working closely with the administration to get this tough budget done right,” Benson said. Even though we faced a condensed budget timeline, we were still able to be thorough and adopt a budget that reflects our values and, more importantly, the values of Mercer County residents.”

Have a correction or news tip? Email [email protected]