Residents get into the budget-trimming act
Many say 7-cent tax rate increase is too high
BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer

RED BANK - Residents unleashed their growing concerns April 28 about the increase in the municipal tax rate proposed in the 2008 municipal budget.

The 2008 municipal budget, which was introduced March 10, calls for an increase of 7.7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in the municipal tax rate.

Although not on the agenda for adoption, the Red Bank Borough Council held a public hearing on the 2008 municipal budget to get residents' suggestions for paring down the budget increase.

"I think that consolidating services is always going to save you money. At the same time, the union contracts and things like that, while they are going up 4 percent a year, people in the private sector haven't seen bonuses or raises in many years. So that, too, I think is an issue," said John Street resident Kim Senkeleski.

Senkeleski approached the podium to speak to council members with a few pages worth of questions about the municipal budget, which calls for a 19- percent increase in the tax rate.

"If you have the ability to cut and even at the risk of maybe lowering services to the people that live here, it could be a consideration because at this point 7 cents is a lot," she said.

The consensus from Senkeleski and other residents at the council meeting was that the 7-cent increase in the municipal tax rate was just too high.

"My taxes have gone up 50 percent since 2001," said Arthur Parent, Alston Court.

He implored the council to "get real" and start cutting some costs, calling the increase "alarming."

The municipal tax rate would be approximately 46 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The municipal portion is 25 percent of the average homeowner's overall tax bill, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Frank Mason said previously. The 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.

Although there is an increase in the municipal tax rate, there is a net reduction in the borough's expenditures.

The proposed 2008 budget represents a $1.16 million decrease from last year's $20.26 million municipal budget that the Borough Council adopted in August 2007.

Councilman Michael R. DuPont and the other members of the Finance Committee also recommended a freeze on hiring and spending in the borough; delaying implementation of road improvements; and evaluating the sale of borough assets that are not being used to their full potential at the March 10 meeting, where the budget was introduced.

The average property owner in Red Bank can expect an annual increase of $311.20 in their municipal tax bill if the budget remains unchanged.

Borough Auditor David Kaplan said previously the budget faced some obstacles in its crafting.

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.

DuPont said about two percent of the increase is due to employee salaries that are under contract.

He also said that since the budget was introduced, many departments have cut expenses and amendments to the budget will be forthcoming.

Before they trimmed their budgets, the Shade Tree Committee had asked for a 52.4 percent budget increase, the Fire Department a 14.3 percent increase, and Parks and Recreation a 15.9 percent increase.

On April 24, borough department heads presented their budget proposals at a public meeting to members of the Finance Committee.

At the meeting, each department head presented budgets in detail and it was the second year the workshop meeting was open to the public for questions.

"It's encouraging to hear that this council is working hard and looking at all sorts of ways to try to help us out. We've got to start thinking out of the box, combining the municipality's resources with interlocal services agreements and aggressively market ourselves," said Ron Costa, Bodman Place.

He added, "It sounds to me like you are going to be tabling any extraordinary expenses. I think that it's required during this timeframe from all the pain and suffering you've heard from residents."

Costa requested that the council include a bill list online to hold the council accountable for borough spending as well as to increase transparency in government.

The council is deferring a vote in order to further trim the budget and to wait for the state to announce the amount of extraordinary municipal aid the borough would receive.

"I do not believe that when you are formulating a budget, you should be dependent on extraordinary aid and unfortunately we have for a long time. Eventually you will end up in a bad economic time like we are now. Gov. [Jon] Corzine has cut that," said Councilman John P. Curley.

In response, DuPont said the budget does not rely on extraordinary aid.

Councilman Arthur Murphy added that the Borough Council has always waited for extraordinary aid before passing the budget and that a portion of the budget is not specifically allocated for its receipt.