Stone Harbor Council Divided Over 2009 Budget

STONE HARBOR— By a narrow 4-3 vote Borough Council introduced its 2009 budget calling for a one-cent increase per $100 assessed property value March 17.
Mayor Suzanne Walters became the tiebreaker as the ordinance called for a majority vote of the governing body rather than only council as usually required for resolutions, Solicitor Michael Donohue said peering up from “Googling” legal advice on his Blackberry.
Councilman Karl Giulian, H. Brian Levinson and Randall Bauer voted against the $11.7 million budget.
Giulian said police staffing and borough employee pay increases are among the reasons he doesn’t support it.
Levinson said the state caps “are not a mandate to spend” and “budget increases should be severely scrutinized.” He also disagreed with increasing recreation staff wages.
Councilwoman Joanne Vaul, Beach and Recreation Chairperson, said increased recreation and tourism is part of the borough’s Master Plan, which will be discussed a May 11 Planning Board meeting. Vaul serves as the liaison to the board.
Vaul said “nothing is carved in stone” and the committee was simply discussing expanding recreation job descriptions.
“If we give money to the departments, they’re going to spend it. So we should stop things before they get legs,” Giulian said.
“The message we’re sending is to expect to see taxes go up one-cent every year,” Bauer said suggesting using more surplus funds to offset taxes.
Taxes would increase $100 for every $1 million a house is worth. The penny increase will add about $445,000 to the budget.
Administrator Kenneth Hawk said surplus amounts affect the borough’s bond rating and keeping a decent amount around for a rainy day could save the borough money in the long run by keeping interest rates low.
Historically, the borough applies half of its surplus to the new budget, Hawk said. Out of the $1.5 million surplus, the borough used $800,000. However, revenues are down.
“If we’re going to give taxpayers a break, now would be the time to do it,” Bauer said.
“Save it for a rainy day. It’s dark and miserable but it’s not raining,” Councilman Thomas Cope said.
Councilman Barry Mastrangelo, who voted in favor of the budget, said the state-mandated cap requires either cutting people or cutting services.
Giulian said the Stone Harbor Police Department has had diminished activity and could consider attrition.
Council passed an ordinance to establish a cap bank in order to exceed the 2.5 percent cap up to 3.5 percent over last year’s appropriations. All departments came in under the 3.5 percent cap, Giulian said.
Contact Truluck at (609) 886-8600 ext. 24 or at: ltruluck@cmcherald.com