Residents propose ways to trim Mid'town budget Public hearing held on $62.2M 2008 spending plan BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN- The public hearing for the budget elicited ideas ranging from consolidating the library and the arts center to ending the leaf pickup. Ahearing that began with an awkward 20-second pause between Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger opening up the public hearing and the first person raising their hand to speak, lasted almost an hour with some yelling and laughing mixed in. Middletown Chief Financial Officer Richard E.Wright opened the public hearing by reiterating what the budget was and listing the major components. He then gave a June 2 date for the vote on the budget, since he will be unable to attend the committee's May 19 meeting, adding that the township is waiting for state aid figures. The proposed budget totals $62,263,389 and represents an increase of $2,473,999, or 4.1 percent, over the 2007 amended budget of $59,789,388. As introduced, the budget would increase the municipal tax rate by 5.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 75.7 cents per $100. The owner of a home assessed at $200,000 would pay an additional $1.95 per week, or about $101 per year, if the budget were approved. Every penny on the tax rate equates to $498,727 in revenue for the township. The proposed budget maintains essential services such as law enforcement, building inspections, snow removal, and leaf and brush collection. Costs that factor into the budget include: a $634,511 reduction in state aid; a $1.1million increase in state-mandated pension contributions; a $316,394 statemandated increase in the library's operating budget; increased utility expenses of $600,000; and $770,000 in severance packages for police officers who retired in 2007. The expenditures total $3,420,905. Historically, the municipal tax rate is about 20 percent of the tax bill homeowners receive. Another 19 percent is the county's portion of the bill. The remaining 61 percent goes to school taxes. "Additionally, the local impact of the governor's proposed cut in municipal aid contributed 1.25 cents [to the tax rate] of this year's increase,"Wright said. "Should the Legislature restore the state aid to last year's level prior to budget adoption, the municipal tax rate increase would be reduced to 3.8 cents for the 2008 budget." During the public portion, Democratic candidate for Township Committee James Grenafege asked if it would be feasible to combine theMiddletownArts Center with the library so that the township is not funding two separate entities. "Would it be possible to combine the two?" Grenafege asked. "If so, we could consolidate the two and save some money there." Township Attorney Bernard Reilly said that it would be possible but not something he would recommend, an idea Deputy Mayor Pamela Brightbill agreed with. "The arts center is something that is different from the library," Brightbill said. "I don't see how combining the two would make sense in the community." He also suggested decreasing the number of employees in the township. "By letting some people go, we could save some money there as well," Grenafege said. "I'm not saying massive layoffs, just taking a look at departments, such as the police department, who do a wonderful job, but we could lower the staff in the township." Police Chief Robert Oches took offense at some of Grenafege's comments. "We have the lowest officers-percapita in the surrounding counties but yet we have the largest municipality," Oches said. "I've been on the staff for a long time and I feel that I am more than qualified to handle knowing how many officers we need." Scharfenberger agreed. "Chief Oches is a wizard in reining in the overtime of officers," Scharfenberger said. "He's done a wonderful job staffing our department." Planning Board member John Deus said that his ideas, though they wouldn't be popular, included ending the practice of township leaf pickups and municipalities purchasing utilities. "I've spoken with Hazlet Mayor Jim DiNardo about the municipalities in the area purchasing utilities," Deus said. "It would be a great way to increase revenue for the surrounding townships." He also suggested an idea that he said would make him a very unpopular man. "If we stopped our leaf pickup, we could save a lot of money," Deus said. "I know it's not an idea that will make a lot of people happy, but it's an idea." Scharfenberger said that the issue has been a "hot potato" issue. "While it would save us money, what would we do with the leaves?" Scharfenberger said. "I appreciate the idea, but I don't think it would work." Scharfenberger for the past few months has spoken about the unfunded mandates that contribute to a higher budget. Resident and Zoning Board Chairman James L. Hinckley agreed with Scharfenberger's assessment of the unfunded mandates and while he had no recommendations on the budget, he had an idea of how the state government could curb the unfunded mandates. "My recommendation is that here in Middletown every Zoning Board and Planning Board member has to take a course about their jobs, duties and what is expected of us," Hinckley said. "I'm going to make a suggestion, and if it's political, let it be political: I think Gov. [Jon S.] Corzine and the bunch of clowns and knuckleheads in Trenton should be required to come to Middletown and take a course in basic finance. They are obviously lacking in it." He went on to say that 90 percent of financial problems that municipalities and schools are having stem from state mandates. "It's incompetence at the state level, it's overspending at the state level," Hinckley said. "These mandates keep the costs higher than they should be." The Township Committee will vote on the budget at its June 2 meeting.