The Princeton City Council plans to call a public hearing on the FY 2026-27 budget and a proposed increase in the property tax rate.

The agenda for the regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 10, includes an item to call a special meeting and hearing on Monday, Aug. 17.

City staff has proposed a budget of $118.46 million in total revenues and $112.77 million in total expenditures.

Staff also proposes raising the tax rate by 10 cents per $100 valuation to $0.549999. For the past two years, Princeton’s tax rate has been $0.4402 per $100 of assessed property value

Since the proposed increase exceeds the No-New-Revenue Tax Rate of $0.445102 per $100 of taxable value and the Voter-Approval Tax Rate of $0.441143 per $100 of taxable value, the rate must be put before voters in the Tuesday, Nov. 3, general election.

The 10 cent per $100 increase erases the 9 cent drop adopted in 2023.

Also on the Aug. 10 meeting agenda is a public hearing on the proposed Comprehensive Plan as well as consideration of zoning restrictions on data centers and a library fee for non-residents.

Princeton currently permits data centers to be developed without a public hearing or additional land use review beyond the standard site development and building permit process.

The current ordinance also does not contain a definition of “data center” or any use-specific development standards addressing compatibility with surrounding land uses.

The proposed ordinance amendments would prohibit data centers in all zoning districts except the M-2 Heavy Manufacturing District, where the use would require approval of a Specific Use Permit (SUP). Those permits would then be subject to use-specific development standards and approval criteria.

The new definition would clarify a data center is “any facility, building, campus, or portion thereof that is designed, constructed, or operated for the processing, storage, management, routing, or transmission of electronic data through computer servers, networking equipment, cloud computing infrastructure, artificial intelligence computing systems, or similar technology. A facility shall be considered a data center whenever more than 10% of the gross floor area or more than 5,000 square feet is devoted to such use, regardless of whether the use is principal or accessory.”

Stay informed, and support your local community newspaper, subscribe to The Princeton Herald