Editing Cranbury, New Jersey (section)

=== Local government ===
[[File:23 North Main Street, Cranbury, NJ.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Cranbury Town Hall, the [[Old Cranbury School]]]]
Cranbury Township is governed under the [[Township (New Jersey)|township]] form of government, one of 141 municipalities (of the 564) statewide governed under this form.<ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/inventory_of_municipal_forms_of_government_in_new_jersey.pdf ''Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey''], [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> The Township Committee is comprised of five members, who are elected directly by the voters [[at-large]] in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year as part of the November general election in a three-year cycle; all terms of office end on December 31.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 70.</ref><ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=7 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"], p. 7. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> At an annual reorganization meeting, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as mayor. In 1990, the Cranbury Township Committee was expanded from three to five members and the position of Township Administrator was established by ordinance.<ref name=Committee/>

{{As of|2025}}, members of the Cranbury Township Committee are Mayor Lisa Knierim ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]], term on committee and as mayor ends December 31, 2025), Deputy Mayor Eman El-Badawi (D, term on committee ends 2027; term as deputy mayor ends 2025), Robert Christopher (D, 2027), Barbara F. Rogers (D, 2025) and Matthew A. Scott (D, 2026).<ref name=Committee>[https://www.cranburytownship.org/township-committee Township Committee], Cranbury Township. Accessed January 5, 2025. "The Township Committee is the governing body established by State law for the Township form of government. The membership of the Cranbury Township Committee was expanded from three to five in January 1990. The terms of the members are for three years, staggered, so that at least one member is up for election every year. The membership annually chooses one of the members as Mayor."</ref><ref>[https://www.cranburytownship.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif4296/f/uploads/municipal_budget_2024.pdf 2024 Municipal Data Sheet], Cranbury Township. Accessed April 21, 2024.</ref><ref name=Middlesex2024>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Middlesex/122847/web.345435/#/summary Tuesday, November 5 General Election Official Results], [[Middlesex County, New Jersey]], updated November 27, 2024. Accessed January 1, 2025.</ref><ref name=Middlesex2023>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Middlesex/119048/web.317647/#/summary November 7, 2023 General Election Official Results], [[Middlesex County, New Jersey]], December 7, 2023. Accessed January 1, 2024.</ref><ref name=Middlesex2022>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Middlesex/116148/web.307039/#/summary November 8, 2022 General Election Official Results], [[Middlesex County, New Jersey]], updated November 22, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023.</ref>

In 2023, the township had the lowest effective property tax rate in Middlesex County at 1.621%.<ref>[https://www.nj.gov/njbonds/treasury/taxation/pdf/lpt/gtr/2023taxrates.pdf 2023 General Tax Rates], [[New Jersey Department of Treasury]]. Accessed January 5, 2025</ref> In 2018, the township had an average property tax bill of $11,960, the highest in the county, compared to an average bill of $8,767 statewide.<ref>Marcus, Samantha. [https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/04/these-are-the-towns-with-the-highest-property-taxes-in-each-of-njs-21-counties.html "These are the towns with the highest property taxes in each of N.J.’s 21 counties"], NJ Advance Media for [[NJ.com]], April 22, 2019. Accessed November 5, 2019. "The average property tax bill in New Jersey was $8,767 last year. But there can be big swings from town to town and county to county.... The average property tax bill in Cranbury Township was $11,960 in 2018, the highest in Middlesex County."</ref>