MO Budget meeting 

Taxpayers express outrage

At Mt. Olive Budget meeting 

      By Richard Johnston

      MOUNT OLIVE (2/15/09) – To the apparent surprise of the mayor and members of the township council the largest number of people ever came to yesterday’s first of what will be Saturday morning public review sessions during February of the 2009-10 budget…all to complain angrily about increasing taxes.

       The public numbered more than 100.  About 15 spoke.  All expressed “understanding” the governing body was doing the best it could but all said it wasn’t enough.  Several were personally personal, even confessing Mount Olive was becoming too expensive for them to continue to live here.

       There pretty much was a consensus that the township’s services were fine but if it came to choosing between continuing the level of services and increasing taxes….cut the taxes.     

        The departments reviewed were recreation, planning, police, building, clerk and the library.

Coming under most of the fire were salary increases and fringe benefits, especially health care.

         When Mayor David Scapicchio introduced the budget last month he pointed out that a hiring freeze was in effect as was an across the board five percent cut in expenses, both for the second year in a row.  He also stated that salaries of township employees would increase a mandated five percent agreed to previously in contract obligations.

        The budget is $25 million, up $546,542 over last year, most of that due to negotiated salary increases.

         Council President Russell Tepper stated he did not support that level of increase, but that the township was mandated to pay because they were negotiated and were legal contracts .

         Former Councilman Jim Buell proposed the township do a comparison cost study with surrounding towns on such services as road and fleet maintenance, storm water management, health services, employee salaries and animal control.

         He raised an issue he raised when he was a member of the Council…. the opportunity of sharing services with Netcong to pick up that town’s garbage.  We had the opportunity but Roxbury beat us to it and it saved Roxbury a couple of hundred thousand dollars this year, he said. At that time Scapicchio said the matter had been explored with Netcong officials and they wanted to pay less for their residents than it was costing residents in Mount Olive. That made it non negotiable, he said.

        Chief Financial Officer Sherry Maniscalco painstakingly walked the audience through the budget process which starts every year in September.  She explained the importance of maintaining the budget surplus as it effects the township’s bond rating; that much of what  residents were concerned about was due to “misinformation” in news reports;  that the township had fewer employees now than it had in 2000 and the average residential taxpayer would only pay $479 more this year in taxes.

        The misinformation in news reports she referred to was that the budget was increasing 8.38% when in fact it was increasing just 1.75%.

        Councilman Rob Greenbaum outlined the dilemma involved in cutting services or increasing taxes.  When you cut taxes it follows that services are diminished and when that happens it has other serious implications. When you cut recreation and library costs and close the beach, police costs increase, he said.  If you try to save money by not buying police cars for a year or two it costs the township a lot more to catch up.  “We’ve tried that and it didn’t work.”

     All the department heads’ presentations were “upbeat” when it came to living within their budgets, exploring ways to cut costs and sharing services.          

     Police Chief Mark Spitzer started his presentation by telling the Council he wasn’t “asking for anything” but cautioned that he was feeling a “slow denigration” in the quality of the department.

“Change comes slowly,” he said. “We’re not the same department we were 25 years ago.  We’ve had a lot of improvements. 

     He then explained that as experienced officers retire, they must be replaced and their replacements must have the experience. Several officers are approaching the 20, 25 and 30 year tenures, he said. they’re going to have to be replaced.  He said it is likely two will be retiring this year. 

    Equipment wears and some of our equipment is getting beyond repair, radar equipment is breaking down more often and it’s outdated.  He also pointed out his “directed patrols” campaign has been successful but it has caused increase mileage on police cars.

     When questioned he seemed “cool” to the idea of “sharing services” with other townships, having already explored the various potential activities.

     As an example he cited the township’s dispatchers, an important activity in any police department.  He said he is satisfied that the township’s dispatcher activity is excellent and cited reasons why it would not be constructive to share those services with other municipalities.

      Greenbaum and the other council members commended Suzanne Jeska and the library board for the great improvements they have made in their two year tenure.