March 27, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Warren County’s Board of Commissioners has approved a $119.4 million 2026 budget that cuts the equalized tax rate to 49.4 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
Commissioner Lori Ciesla said the “chaotic” financial situation at the State of New Jersey level and rising costs made delivering a no-tax-increase budget difficult.
She and commissioner Jason J. Sarnoski and James R. Kern III credited the county staff for their work on the spending plan.
Here’s the county’s press release:
Commissioners Approve Budget With Tax Rate Decrease
(WHITE TOWNSHIP, NJ – March 25, 2026) – Warren County’s equalized tax rate will once again drop under a $119.4 million budget approved by the Board of County Commissioners, marking the sixth year in a row with a rate decrease.
Despite facing major increases in health insurance costs and putting more money toward education and public safety, the 2026 spending plan the Commissioners unanimously approved cuts the tax rate and includes no debt service – the County made its last debt payment in the summer of 2025 – as it fully funds a capital projects budget of $13.3 million.
The equalized tax rate, which was 62.9 cents per $100 of property in 2020, is now below 50 cents, dropping to 49.4 cents from 50.2 cents last year.
All three commissioners credited the hard work of County government staff in delivering a budget with no tax increases, despite what Commissioner Director Lori Ciesla described as a “chaotic” financial picture on the state level. “We have to keep swimming upstream” in the face of rising energy and health care costs, Ciesla said, but the County is budgeting wisely and trying to be practical.
“We keep doing things that we need to do,” Ciesla remarked.
Commissioner Jason J. Sarnoski said that while this year’s budget was challenge, there are more hurdles ahead. “In the next few years we’re going to be seeing more challenging budgets as the economy continues to fluctuate” with rising costs of energy, housing, and everything else, he said. “The taxpayers are the ones paying the bill,” Sarnoski added, and the County works hard to keep that in mind.
“A lot is being asked of county government and this board is delivering,” Commissioner James R. Kern III said, noting that the County not only faces the same headwinds as its resident from rising costs, but “the role of what county government is asked to do” is changing.
The budget reflects those changes, with increases for the Public Safety Department, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office. The budget includes $2.1 million in capital spending on the county 911 emergency communications system, and Kern noted the County has to subsidize the improvement because the State has not supplied money from what is supposed to be a dedicated fund financed by a fee on telephone service.
Meanwhile, the County will increase the Open Space Tax by 1 cent per $100 this year. Although taxpayers have authorized an Open Space Tax of up to 6 cents, it has remained at 2 cents for the last five years. The Commissioners cited the cost to purchase land is increasing, and county residents have been supportive of their tax funds going to support farm and open space preservation to prevent overdevelopment.
The $13.3 million Capital Ordinance the Commissioners approved includes:
· $3.8 million for road resurfacing, with $831,932 coming from county taxes and the rest from a State grant
· $2.56 million for road and drainage projects, such as guiderail replacement and road and intersection design and construction.
· $675,000 for bridge and culvert improvements.
· $2.1 million to continue a program to improve 911 emergency communications through Warren County to eliminate “dead spots”.
· $1.23 million for special vehicles and heavy equipment, including a vehicle for the Senior & Disabled Transportation Program, as well as dump trucks and other public works equipment.
The Commissioners also adopted the 2026 County Library budget of $5.79 million, which carries the same tax levy as the past three years, resulting in a slight decrease in the tax rate.
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 