Budget Delayed
Despite holding budget workshop discussions as early as September, the West Windsor Township Council will have to wait longer than usual to see its first draft of the budget.
Cause of the delay: The transition taking place at the state level as new Governor Christopher Christie takes office. According to Business Administrator Robert Hary, the state Local Finance Board postponed the statutory introduction deadline for 2010 budgets to Friday, March 19.
“The state has asked us to hold off because with the transition from the [former Governor Jon] Corzine to Christie administration, there will be no definitive numbers on state aid yet,” Hary said. In addition, “we don’t have the value of the penny set yet by our tax assessor.”
Hary also said the township has not yet received surplus amounts from 2009. These factors will all affect the timing of the budget’s first draft. All municipalities around the state will follow the extended deadline, he said.
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh told the council during the January 19 meeting that he knew the council had expected to see a budget on the table by January 15, but “last time, Business Administrator Robert Hary indicated that because we never received direction from the state,” it was not going to happen.
Even though the LFB has approved the extension, the administration is still waiting for more direction before it drafts the budget. Without it, “there is no way we can come up with a budget for the council to review.”
As soon as it receives any information from the state, the administration will work to put the budget together and get it to the council as soon as possible, which will have to occur before the deadline, Hsueh said.
Council members have repeatedly stressed the importance of finding savings in this year’s budget — even holding budget workshop sessions as early as September to try to get a head-start on the process, which began almost immediately after last year’s budget was adopted.
Members of council have been seeking a zero percent increase, or a decrease, in the 2010 package. Under last year’s measure, which raised a total of $20.6 million in taxes, the owner of the average assessed township home at $549,345 paid $1,818.33 in municipal taxes, an increase of $93.39 over the 2008 average $1,724.94.
After the budget’s adoption, council members came up with individual ideas — including Charles Morgan’s proposals to use more surplus to reduce taxes and to create a nonprofit community foundation specifically used for offsetting costs in the budget — to try to combat rising taxes during the national economic crisis.
Council also rejected Morgan’s prior proposal to mandate that the administration submit a budget with no increase, and also include options outlining various percentage increases.
Ultimately, council has opted to stick with the status quo for coming up with the budget, giving direction to Hary and Hsueh to find savings themselves.
Council members reaffirmed their faith in the current administration during the January 19 meeting, when Councilman Kamal Khanna suggested hiring an outside consultant to come up with methods for the administration to use in finding cost reductions.
Council members Linda Geevers and George Borek said they were confident the message council has sent to the administration was heard and that they did not want to “step on the toes” of the administration, which forms the budget each year.
Khanna emphasized that he was not trying to step on the toes, but rather that he encouraged the mayor and administration to consider hiring a consultant after first doing their own analysis. The administration should use all the tools they have to reduce the budget. “If he feels he does not have the manpower to do that, then we can hire consultants,” he said.
Geevers suggested asking Phoenix Advisers, already retained by the township for auditing and other financial services, if they can help in any way.
Hary, however, said he felt confident the township had the professionals on hand to accomplish the task successfully without the need for outside help.
Khanna, however, said he still felt “you need an independent task force” — maybe if it is selecting one representative from each department to go through and take a hard look at cost savings. “Then, if you think that is not enough, then you should hire consultants.”
Borek said “I think this administration knows where we’re coming from.” He urged the administration to begin going out to bid for contracts like engineering services to see whether, given the economy, other professionals would be willing to offer the same services for reduced costs.
Geevers said the township should stop spending so much time on individual ordinance reviews, which have grown to span multiple meetings and hours this year, costing the township more money to pay its professionals.
Borek also suggested setting up a link on the township’s website where residents can E-mail council members regarding comments or suggestions for the upcoming budget process. Hary told the council that residents can already send E-mails to the township regarding any issue, but that they are not forwarded to council members because they usually refer to issues like garbage collection. However, Hary said he would forward any E-mails pertaining to budget issues to each council member.
Township Takes Land Needed For Meadow Road
The Township Council has introduced three ordinances to allow the township to acquire easements from three property owners for road widening, utility, and drainage associated with the Meadow Road reconstruction project and the sanitary sewer extension of the Duck Pond Run interceptor.
A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, February 16, on the ordinances, which were introduced on January 19.
Two of the property owners — Palladium Realty LLC (which represents the Mack-Cali Realty Corporation) and Princeton Land Partners LLC — have come to an agreement with the township and are not seeking compensation for the acquisitions. According to the ordinances, each property owner has agreed to accept $1 from the township.
However, the township is using eminent domain to acquire portions of the property belonging to West Windsor Realty Trust because it has “done everything imaginable to try to get the property owner to agree,” said Township Attorney Michael Herbert. The township has already drafted a “declaration of taking” and had an appraisal done to determine the amount of compensation the township will be required to deposit to the court to distribute to the property owner.
According to the ordinance, the township will be required to pay a fair market value of $55,600 to the property owner.
The first phase of the project entails realigning the 90-degree curve so that Meadow Road from Bear Brook will go directly to the bridge and to Route 1 and Carnegie Center in a straight line.
Cable TV Ordinance. Also during the January 19 meeting, the council discussed possible revisions to the Cable TV ordinance.
Council members decided to review the Cable TV ordinance after a public comment made by council candidate Andrew Hersh in which he announced the “571 Day” he had organized during a taped council meeting in the middle of election season sparked a behind-the-scenes controversy.
The council has a self-imposed prohibition against the discussion of partisan politics on the township’s cable channel. Township Attorney Michael Herbert had issued an opinion that Hersh was violating the township’s policy, which states that partisan politics cannot be aired on the cable channel within 60 days of an election. The opinion prompted an E-mail from Hersh to the council and began E-mail conversations between Morgan and others on council over the definition of “partisan.”
When the council first began taping its meetings, it did not allow the taping of the public comment period for this reason.
Borek suggested during the meeting that the council change the ordinance to prohibit the re-broadcasting of any of the meetings that occur 30 days before an election until after the election is over. Herbert said there was a problem, still, with regard to residents watching the live broadcast. If someone begins campaigning, it will still be considered to be using public resources for campaigning if live viewers can hear the comments, he said.
Instead, he recommended having no broadcast at all for 30 days before the election, which will avoid the need of “defining what we mean by campaigning.”
Councilwoman Diane Ciccone said that “there might be some issues that rise that people might want to know about” other than pertaining to the election that will not be aired.
Councilwoman Linda Geevers also said that even if the public comment were not broadcast, “you may feel someone at the dais will use it to get their point across,” giving incumbent candidates an advantage.
“What I’m looking for here is a simple solution and to not have to re-invent the wheel,” said Borek. “There’s got to be a balance.”
Ultimately, the council seemed to lean toward prohibiting the broadcasting of public comment sessions during meetings for 30 days before an upcoming election. Herbert will draft changes to the council’s own procedural guidelines and not the township ordinance, to allow the council to enact the rule.
Contracts Awarded. Council also approved a $94,357 contract with NetQ Multimedia Company, of Jackson, to replace the “antiquated” phone system in the municipal building and senior center.
The council also approved professional services agreements with T&M Associates, ACT Engineers, James Parvesse, and Remington, Vernick & Arango Engineers for engineering services for 2010, although maximum amount of the contract is subject to the final adoption of the 2010 budget.
Councilwoman Diane Ciccone said she wanted “to know that this isn’t an open-ended contract,” but Business Administrator Robert Hary said the reason it is open-ended was because funding for the contracts comes from various places in the budget. For example, funding can come from miscellaneous expenditures or from escrow, which is paid by developers. It is the job of the township engineer to monitor line items in the budget to make sure the contracts do not exceed the amount of funding available. “Most of the time, a third party is paying it,” Hary said.
Council President George Borek said that the professionals have kept their prices flat for three years, but Parvesse has lowered his price by 12 percent. Borek said this prompted him to question whether there are other professionals who may offer lower prices because of the bad economy and competition.
“Doesn’t it make sense that we go out to bid for a professional services agreement?” Borek asked. Hary said that the township is already considering doing so in the future.
Town Hall Meeting
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh will hold another Town Hall meeting on Saturday, January 30, at 2 p.m. at the township’s municipal building on Clarksville Road.
