Budget calls for 4.2-cent rate hike
Taxes will rise average of $78 per year
BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

RED BANK - After much ado about problems in the borough finance department, the borough's 2006 municipal budget was passed at a special meeting last week by a vote of 4-2.

The budget calls for an increase of 4.2 cents in the tax rate, which would mean a total tax rate for the borough of 83.4 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

The final budget stands at $16.3 million, with $8.2 million to be raised through local taxes.

According to interim Chief Financial Officer Bruce Loversidge, the average home in the borough is assessed at $178,000 and the rate increase amounts to an additional $78 per year for the homeowner.

The two votes against the approval of the budget came from the two Republican council members, John Curley and Kaye Ernst.

Curley read aloud a written statement listing his reasons for voting against the budget.

"It is our responsibility at the local level," Curley said, "to provide the most cost-effective, streamlined and efficient services possible.

"Councilwoman Kaye Ernst and I have requested zero-based budgeting, creating accountability from the onset. This request has been ignored by the mayor and his council and by our employees," he said.

Curley also mentioned the request he and Ernst made for all department heads to find ways to cut 5 percent from each department budget, which, Curley said, was ignored by some departments.

Other requests that Curley said have not been met were his request for a complete list of borough vehicles and attendance records of council members.

"There is no consistent bidding process under the state-mandated threshold," he said. "The same companies and people are pulled out of the hat each time. Specifically, we need to bid on our health insurance program to ensure the best coverage at the lowest cost.

He continued, "No member of this council should be accepting health insurance from this borough and all employees should be paying into their health insurance costs. Those of us sitting at this table are not destitute and should not be feeding at the public trough."

Curley has voted against approving the budget for three consecutive years, citing a lack of zero-based budgeting.

Curley is chair of the finance committee and has been criticized by Mayor Edward J. McKenna Jr. and other council members for his alleged lack of oversightof the finance department, specifically of the borough's former chief financial officer Terrance Whalen.

Whalen resigned the post in June after mistakes were discovered in the finance department's work, including over-expenditures, failure to make deposits into the pension fund, and failure to pay unemployment taxes, according to Borough Auditor David Kaplan.

In his annual audit report presented to the council at its July 24 meeting, Kaplan attributed 4 cents of the borough tax rate increase for this year to mistakes made in the finance department.

McKenna contends that as finance chair, it was Curley's responsibility to oversee the department and CFO and report any problems in the department to the council.

"This is the worst job any finance chair has ever done in my 20 years at the borough," McKenna said. "The taxpayers of this borough should hold you accountable for 4 cents of the tax increase."

Whalen was hired as CFO in the summer of 2004 to replace Bruce Loversidge, who has since returned in a part-time capacity while the borough searches for a new CFO.

The council hired Frank V. Mason as CFO at its July 24 meeting at the annual salary of $85,000.

The borough received $125,000 in extraordinary aid from the state, which was earmarked to go directly toward property tax relief.