The West Windsor Township Council has scheduled its “brainstorming” session for Monday, September 21, during which council members will generate ideas for saving money and lowering the tax impact on residents in the 2010 municipal budget.
And the council will discuss an outline for that meeting on Monday, August 31.
Setting a pre-budget meeting date, and the subsequent pre-budget meetings to follow, has been a priority since the council reorganized in early July.
Council members said they wanted to get on the table every idea that should be discussed during the pre-budget sessions. Typically, the council does not start holding meetings on the budget until after the new year, but council members, especially Charles Morgan, have called for meetings to begin as early as the summer in preparation for the upcoming budget season, so that the issues and ideas for savings may be more fully vetted.
Even though the brainstorming meeting is scheduled for September 21, Councilman Kamal Khanna urged council to come up with some ideas ahead of time. “Time is of the essence,” he said. “I would rather give some direction now, and get some feedback,” at the September 21 meeting, he added.
He also said he wanted to get a list from the administration of sustainable and green initiatives the township has already undertaken to date, so that council can look at more initiatives they can do in the future.
Councilwoman Linda Geevers suggested that during the council’s meeting on Monday, August 31, council members can create an outline for the September 21 meeting. Council President George Borek agreed, also saying that under the Faulkner Act form of government, there are boundaries between responsibilities the council is given and those given to the mayor and administration. Council has to be careful not to overstep those boundaries during the meeting, particularly with arranging the budget.
“It’s just doing an outline, and to get everyone to understand how it will be set up,” he said.
Geevers also suggested inviting Nancy Kieling, president and executive director of the Princeton Area Community Foundation, to talk about nonprofit community foundations, a topic expected to be thoroughly discussed during upcoming budget meetings.
Throughout the 2009 budget season, Morgan had been proposing to set up a nonprofit community foundation to draw in donations to help offset some costs put into the municipal budget. His suggestions included hiring an employee to solicit donations to the community foundation.
Despite debate about the legality of the issue, his council colleagues agreed to more fully vet the idea during the next budget season.
