Lower Budget Approved with Scant Debate

VILLAS – Lower Township Auditor Leon Costello and Chief Financial Officer Lauren Read made a brief appearance before Lower Township Council to answer questions about the revised 2015 township budget April 20. The hearing on the budget preceded the council meeting; it was notable for the lack of drama and scarce public reaction to the new numbers that were presented. The budget total was $26,639,606.
Costello noted that the Municipal Utilities Authority will contribute $205,000 from its surplus to reduce the tax rate below the mandatory limits of 2.5 cents per $100 of assessment. “The new 1.9 cent tax increase is well below that, and no service cuts will be required” he stated. He added that all projects are fully funded so that there will be no carry over to the next budget year. This was the extent of the presentation.
Public comment produced only two residents with questions. One asked how much had been cut from last year’s budget. Read responded that $277,572 had been cut in the areas of health care insurance and other areas, but that this cut was not reflected in either the February draft, or in the current draft because it occurred before the budget process began.
The failure to use the township’s own surplus to reduce the tax rate was discussed. Costello stated that use of the township surplus is not considered good practice. It was revealed that there is a $273,000-plus spending increase in the budget.
Another asked, “How much of the terminal leave line item would go to former township Manager Michael Voll who was fired in favor of James Ridgway? Read stated she did not have that figure, but that it would be three months’ salary for the three months left on Voll’s contract.
Council comments on the budget were predictable in that the Republican majority of Councilmen Thomas Conrad, David Perry and Erik Simonsen all supported the budget as proposed and each thanked Costello and Read for their work developing this document.
Conrad was pleased that no services were cut although he expressed hope that next year’s budget would be better. Perry also approved the budget, as did Simonsen.
Deputy Mayor Norris Clark, however, called this budget a “cop out.” He stated, “We wimped out on the MUA,” and that to him shared services can only help save money when the Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority is absorbed into the township government.
He also objected to the MUA ratepayers having to pay to lower the rates for taxpayers. “This is wrong,” he stated. “Rather than do the right thing, we take money away from MUA ratepayers to put more in the taxpayers’ pockets.”
Mayor Michael Beck also voiced objection to the budget. “I go back to last year when we evaluated the MUA; the independent analyst proposed we dissolve it.”
Beck stated that the savings were going to be much more than the original $1 million figure, and that when the MUA eventually came up with similar savings, this reinforced the analysts’ original judgment that there was a lot of waste at the MUA.
Beck also objected to the use of the MUA surplus as he agreed with Clark’s criticism about ratepayers paying for taxpayers.
Beck also referenced the budget increases to raise the police force to 46 officers immediately in this year’s budget. After Simonsen quoted a media report that listed Lower Township as having one of the worst heroin problems in the state, Beck responded that he spoke to the reporter from that north Jersey paper that characterized Lower Township as having one of the worst heroin problems in the state. He was particularly upset that the writer based his ranking on the number of persons seeking drug rehab in each community, and not any actual crime statistics.
According to Beck, this statistic reporting rehab applications is actually a good indication that Lower Township is making real progress against drugs. He quoted Lower Township Police Chief William Mastriana who said, “We cannot arrest our way out of this drug problem,” which to Beck means that more police on the street do not always translate into lower crime rates.
His opinion is that drug treatment programs, school programs and other social institutions are just as effective against drug usage. Beck suggested that it would be more fiscally responsible to raise the number of police over two or more years, perhaps one officer per year. The two resolutions needed to pass the new budget were approved by a 3- 2 vote, with Simonsen, Perry and Conrad voting yes.
To contact Jim McCarty, email jmccarty@cmcherald.com.