Sea Bright council agrees to raise state budget cap
Municipal budget scheduled for public intro on March 15
BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer

SEA BRIGHT — The Borough Council is giving the town’s number crunchers a little bit of breathing room as those financial professionals finish crafting the upcoming 2005 municipal budget, which is expected to be unveiled in mid-March.

Mindful of the rising cost of health insurance for borough employees, as well as other anticipated increases, the council unanimously approved an ordinance to exceed the state-sanctioned 2.5 percent cost of living appropriation (COLA) cap in the forthcoming municipal budget by one percent. to a total of 3.5 percent.

No one spoke during the public hearing on the measure which was read for a second and third time during the council’s Feb. 15 meeting. It had first been introduced to the council two weeks earlier on Feb. 1.

The measure is designed to take advantage of state legislation enacted last summer that allows municipalities to go over the mandated 2.5 percent spending cap by an additional one percent. when putting together their calendar year 2005 budgets.

After determining that the one percent increase is “in the interest of promoting the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens, a governing body may pass its own legislation authorizing use of the 3.5 percent spending cap,” the borough’s ordinance state.

In Sea Bright’s case, the one percent amount equals $25,177.50 in excess of the increase in final appropriations permitted by the state legislation, known as the Local Government Cap Law or N.J.S.A. 40A:4-45.15a, according to a copy of the ordinance.

Until this year, state law capped the COLA appropriation at five percent, explained Councilman William “Jack” Keeler, a member of the borough’s finance committee.

However, in an effort to hold down municipal property taxes in 2005, state legislators voted to halve that spending cap by rolling it back to 2.5 percent, Keeler said.

Knowing that some towns might find it difficult to keep certain expenses within the 2.5 percent spending cap, the legislators allowed the one percent increase to towns as a means of keeping those items within the set limits, that is 3.5 percent, Keeler explained.

“Some towns have said there are some things they cannot control,” Keeler said.

“Certain things are going to be out of cap,” he continued. “This is a way for towns that have particular expenses, that can demonstrate that.”

This year’s municipal budget is tentatively scheduled for introduction to the public at the council’s March 15 meeting, Keeler announced.

To date, council members, along with Mayor Jo-Ann Kalaka-Adams and the borough’s finance professionals, have been meeting regularly to come up with this year’s proposed spending plan in a series of budget workshops.

The public is welcome to attend and participate in a special budget workshop scheduled for 7 p.m. next Thursday inside the council chambers at the Cecile F. Norton Community Center.

The current tax rate in Sea Bright is 1.279 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, according to the borough tax collector’s office.

Though this year’s budget is still a work in progress, Kalaka-Adams is pleased that the council took the opportunity to exceed the COLA spending cap.

“It provides a safety net for us,” she said.

Allowances for the increase cover borough employee health insurance, liability and workers’ compensation are anticipated in the 2005 spending plan, according to Chief Financial Officer Michael Bascom.

The health insurance rates are negotiated by contract and are not subject to revisions by the governing body, he noted.

Other anticipated increases include landfill tipping fees set by the Monmouth County Reclamation Center for the borough’s garbage disposal, and the contributions to pension funds for police and other public employees, Bascom explained.

“They are the major items out there, but we’ll do what we can to keep the tax rate stable,” Bascom said.

For the most part, the council has been fiscally responsible in reviewing and passing budgets said Kalaka-Adams, who is in her second year as mayor.

In particular, she praised Council President Maria Fernandes, the governing body’s public works liaison, for negotiating a more cost-effective garbage disposal contract.

“[Fernandes] was able to look around and get the best deal while still providing the best services,” Kalaka-Adams said.

In January, the West Long Branch Borough Council also approved a similar ordinance to exceed its spending cap by one percent to increase it from 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent.

Officials in the borough of Eatontown, which has introduced a tentative municipal budget for 2005, have indicated that the borough intends to take similar action in the near future.