Democrats' plan lists ways to trim budget 39-point plan looks for cost savings on $62.2M '08 budget BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN- Township Committee Democrats came up with a list of ways to cut the budget too late in the game, according to the mayor and deputy mayor. Although the committee approved introduction of the municipal budget by a 5-0 vote on its first hearing April 7, Committeeman Patrick Short said he cast a yes vote just to make the spending plan public. Short, along with fellow Democratic Committeeman Sean Byrnes, presented a 39-point planwith suggestions on howto cut the proposed $62,263,389municipal budget. "As a result of our recommended changes, a subtotal of $1,913,652 could be [saved]," Short said. "An additional $654,540 could be recognized if salaries were not increased to the levels that are currently specified within the 2008 budget, thus resulting in an opportunity for an overall savings total of $2,568,192 if all of the proposed budget reductions were taken into account." The committeemen presented a 39- point plan after the first vote was taken, with Short reading most of their observations to the public. Some of the suggestions include: "weaning Middletown off municipal state aid so Middletown becomes self-reliant and the budget can be approved far earlier than under existing process." Another suggestion was to cut back on donations, subsidies, dues, subscriptions, travel, overtime, operating expenses, miscellaneous expenses and to cap training across the board. They suggested hiring an independent financial consultant to review and make recommendations; reducing the number of days the recycling facility is open from seven to five days; and to make the mayor's secretary position a shared resource, part time or eliminate it. Also on the list was: to consider spreading capital improvements over a two-year period; examine the need for municipal cars; and to examine competing telephone providers. Short also recommended charging back services to the arts center and determining the cost advantages of privatizing the arts center as another way to lower the budget. "We have to start looking at the various line items and change the way we do our business," Short said. "We are trying to make the tax increase as close to nothing as possible." One of the proposals Short highlighted is to develop an approach to get the budget out to residents for review at the same time that committee members receive it and before the budget is introduced, to stimulate discussion on ways to cut costs. "We have a lot of intelligent minds here in Middletown," Short said. "By allowing everyone to look at the budget, we can get suggestions from all types of people in our town." Short said that he and Byrnes are proponents of a budget that does not increase from the previous year. "In the end, we don't want the budget to increase a percent," Short said. "That is why we have a list of ways to at least lower it." Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger and Deputy Mayor Pamela Brightbill were concerned about the timing of Short and Byrnes' raising these concerns, because the Township Committee had been speaking with the budget committee since November, seeking ways to cut the budget. "You can sit around and crunch the numbers now, but we've been looking over this for months now," Brightbill said. "We've been getting drafts of this, which we can get anytime, and it's an amazing process that we have. At our last meeting, Committeemen Short and Byrnes said something about bringing recommendations for when the budget is introduced, but I know Mayor Scharfenberger and Committeeman [Tom] Wilkens have been giving our suggestions for the last three months," Brightbill said. "Obviously I don't have the document in front of me, but I find it not a coincidence that you bring this up tonight." The deputy mayor took exception to the timing of the comments and asked Short to speak to township Chief Financial Officer Richard Wright. "It's easy to come up here and get your little applause from the audience, but I invite you to ask Mr. Wright to explain to you what these things are," Brightbill said. "To read a list of 39 comments on the night we introduce the budget is comical." Scharfenberger said that he has talked to Wright about the budget over the past few months and that he has read Short's list of suggestions. "If they would have brought this up two or three months ago, they would have gotten an explanation," Scharfenberger said. "Some of the things I saw are actually being done and are already in place. Some are just not practical or could cost us more money." Scharfenberger said that while some of the ideas may work, they should have been brought up months ago to see how they could factor in, not the night of the introduction of the budget. "Some of these things look good on paper, but when it comes to enacting them, they aren't feasible," Scharfenberger said. "Here we come to introduce the budget and we are getting suggestions that we do not know if they are practical are not."