The price is right; boro picks auditor Bidding the lowest price, Hulsart wins out over current auditor BY SUE M. MORGAN Staff Writer SEA BRIGHT — From a field of three candidates, the Borough Council has selected one, based on price, to serve as the new municipal auditor. With the two freshmen Republican councilmen casting dissenting votes, the council named Robert A. Hulsart, of the Wall-based accounting firm of Hulsart Armour, as Sea Bright’s new auditor for 2005 during its Feb. 15 public meeting. Hulsart replaces current borough auditor Thomas Fallon, of the Fallon and Fallon accounting firm in Hazlet, who had held that contracted post since 1997. Fallon will still continue working with the borough on its forthcoming 2004 audit, even as Hulsart takes over the auditor’s office, Borough Council President Maria Fernandes explained. At a total contract cost of $25,000, Hulsart offered the lowest price of the three candidates considered by the council, Fernandes said. Both Fallon and the third candidate, Robert Allison, of the Toms River-based Hutchens, Farrell, Laezza and Allison, came in with contract prices higher than Hulsart’s, Fernandes explained. While Fallon has served the borough well, most council members felt after reviewing Hulsart’s credentials, that he could provide the same level of service or more for a better price, she went on. “Hulsart is the least expensive for the borough,” Fernandes said. “You have to keep in mind what is best for the borough.” “Fallon did a wonderful job for us,” she continued. “But [his price] was a little higher than Hulsart’s.” Allison, who was preferred over Hulsart by first-term councilmen Clark Craig and Brian Kelly, preceded Fallon as the borough auditor prior to 1997, Fernandes noted. After the meeting, Craig and Kelly indicated that they just thought Allison was better suited to the position and that their opposition had nothing to do with Hulsart or his firm. For Kelly, it came down to Allison’s experience in assisting the city of Long Branch with the financial details of constructing a public, indoor, year-round swimming pool as that municipality has planned. Sea Bright has been considering building a similar type of facility. “Allison has experience working with real costs [of a municipal pool],” Kelly said. “That was the only fine line. Both firms have great potential.” To Craig, it was Allison’s interview with the council that put him over the top above the other two candidates. “I saw Mr. Allison as bringing more to the table,” Craig said. “Both [firms] are good.” As auditor, Hulsart will be charged with preparing the borough’s financial debt statement, the annual financial statement and assisting with formulating this year’s municipal budget. About $15,000 of his total salary will cover that portion of his job, Fernandes said. For an additional $10,000, Hulsart will also audit two separate borough-owned utilities, namely the beach utility and the sewer utility, she added.