Committee recommends hiring freeze, asset sale
Red Bank budget calls for 7.7-cent increase
BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer
The average property owner in Red Bank can expect an annual increase of $311.20 in their municipal tax bill if the budget introduced March 10 remains unchanged.

The 2008 budget calls for a 7.7-cent increase per $100 of assessed valuation, according to Councilman Michael DuPont, who chairs the Finance Committee.

DuPont said the increase was due to Gov. Jon Corzine's budget cuts in state aid to municipalities.

"The governor's budget cut us by almost $200,000 with an increase in the pension costs," said DuPont. "I think that they are failing to be accountable for their spending ways in Trenton. Now we seem to be sharing our responsibility and bearing blame for Trenton's sins."

This year the borough received about $2.6 million in state aid, which is a decrease from the $2.77 million that was received in 2007.

Borough Auditor David Kaplan was present at the council meeting to introduce the $19.1 million proposed municipal budget.

"We do have a budget crafted that faced quite a few obstacles in its crafting," said Kaplan. "Many of the things that you face, all communities in New Jersey are facing."

According to Kaplan, these obstacles include the $182,615 reduction in the amount of state aid received, the $362,000 increase in pension costs and a $549,360 increase in debt services.

The proposed 2008 budget is a $1.16 million decrease from last year's $20.26 million municipal budget that the Borough Council adopted in August 2007. The council had deferred voting on the budget in April 2007 to wait for the state to announce the amount of emergency municipal aid the borough would receive.

"Red Bank's budget is 5.7 percent below last year's. We've reduced our spending. We are not using our surplus; we are maintaining our surplus," said DuPont.

Although there is a net reduction in the borough's expenditures, there is still a 7-cent increase in the municipal tax rate.

"The infrastructure that we have been rebuilding and repairing, that's just 5.2 cents right there before we even look at the budget," DuPont said of the increase.

Also adding to the increase is a $247,519 reduction in construction fees and a new recycling tax that would cost $3 per ton, according to Frank Mason, the borough's chief financial officer.

The municipal tax rate will be approximately 46 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The municipal portion is 25 percent of the average homeowner's overall tax bill, Mason said previously. This rate is an increase from the 2007 municipal tax rate of 38 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

The budget calls for $10.46 million to be raised through local taxes, an increase of $1.87 million. Last year, $8.596 million was raised through local taxes. These requests, along with budget requests from other departments, were presented at the council meeting.

According to DuPont, three departments asked for increases in their budgets this year. Shade Tree asked for a 52.4 percent budget increase, the Fire Department asked for a 14.3 percent increase, and Parks and Recreation asked for a 15.9 percent increase, he said.

"[The budget] is merely on for introduction. I can assure the public this is not going to be the final product, and there have been some very fruitful, somewhat painful, discussions about a number of our component elements in the town, especially our not-for-profits. We're going to have to make some difficult decisions … to create greater accountability so that the small taxpayer is not burdened any longer or as much as they are now," said Mayor Pasquale Menna.

At theMarch 10 meeting, the Borough Council introduced an ordinance that would make not-for-profit entities pay for their own solid waste collection if they exceed the limit for solid waste pickup for nonresidential entities in the borough, in order to save taxpayer money.

DuPont and the Finance Committee also recommended a freeze on hiring and spending in the borough, considering a delay in the implementation of road improvements, and evaluating the sale of borough assets that are not being used to their full potential.

"Effective immediately, there is a freeze on discretionary spending, [and] there is a freeze on non-appropriated hiring, other than the placement of individuals who are already in the hiring stage. There is a freeze effective immediately on any nonunion-negotiated contracts with nonunion employees until we decide what we are going to do with the budget," said Menna, adding, "We are going to make some very difficult, politically

charged decisions that might not be popular with some, but the public is calling us to take action."

Menna also said there may be a future decision to freeze capital improvements this year. He said that from 2004 to 2007, the total bonding costs for public infrastructure improvements alone are $6,385,000, which helps account for the $549,360 increase in debt service expenses.

The resolution authorizing the introduction of the 2008 municipal budget was approved with a 4-1 vote, and public hearings on the proposal are scheduled to take place April 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Councilwoman Mary-Grace Cangemi was absent for the meeting, and Councilman John P. Curley voted against the budget, saying that spending should be cut in every way possible.

"I would like the council to move into a new era and not be dependent on extraordinary aid. It doesn't exist, and it is not going to exist for a long time, and I certainly hope we don't base our spending on what may or may not be there," said Curley.

He said something has to be done about cost overruns like project change orders, which became costly during the Red Bank Public Library project earlier this year, and top-heavy salaries.