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Politics & Government

Mayor Lucas: 2011-12 Budget Plan 'Comes Down to the Really Tough Items'

Mayor Lucas and Deputy Mayor Green hosted an informal Town Hall session to discuss the details of the upcoming municipal budget.

Manalapan's 2011-12 municipal budget is currently in the proposal stage, and members of the Township Committee are calling for the input of residents over the next two weeks, before the budget is introduced on March 23.

Mayor Andrew Lucas and Deputy Mayor Green hosted a Town Hall meeting on Wednesday and were joined by a small group of six residents, who are also members of the Transportation Committee and the Budget and Finance Committee.

“Basically the goal is going to be the same as it was last year in terms of presenting a budget that’s fiscally sound, that hopefully doesn’t have a tax increase,” said Lucas.

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“At the end of the day, I feel that government is about allocating limited resources,” said Green during the course of the discussion. “So we have limited resources here, and what is most important?” In his view, trash collection, roads, and public safety are the big ticket items.

Currently, the Township is looking to renegotiate its trash contract that will reset on Jan. 1, 2012. Manalapan’s current vendor is Waste Management. In the upcoming weeks, Lucas would like to hear feedback from residents on the efficiency of the service.

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Transportation Committee member John Castronovo expressed concern about reducing garbage collection costs.

“Again, I like keeping everyone honest. I’m thinking that we should probably be getting a lot more in savings than we actually are. Either that, or our residents aren’t recycling as they should be,” said Castronovo.

Lucas explained that the Township was able to save about $300,000 this past year in their current contract with Waste Management but noted that the company is very selective in its collection.

The township also faces additional tipping costs with the Monmouth County Reclamation Center but earns state grants for meeting recycling quotas. According to Lucas, if Waste Management was able to do this tipping, the Township could have saved about $150,000 per year; he would like the County Reclamation Center to be as cost effective as a private company.

“There’s probably some truth in terms of our residents not recycling as they should,” added Green. He doesn’t have hard data to support that claim but feels that the single stream system helps ease the process.

“We are trying to educate the public as much as possible, to increase the recycling, and do what we can to make it easier,” said Green.

Lucas and Green also addressed the other major township cost of employee health benefits and pensions. The Township has 165 employees and spent approximately 2.8 million last year on health benefits, according to Brett Rappaport of the Budget and Finance Committee.

Lucas said that the township deals with four collective bargaining units that negotiate for the state health benefit plan, which remains in effect throughout this year. Manalapan is also part of a liability insurance plan known as the Garden State Joint Insurance Fund, which includes 48 other towns. 

“It’s a much cheaper way of insuring the town, as opposed to going to a direct commercial insurance broker,” said Lucas. He would like to convert to a health JIF in the future, if that could be negotiated with the unions. 

Lucas noted that when it comes to the budget, the township has gone after “the low-hanging fruit” and it’s time to “make the really tough decisions”. He announced that the township will lose five police officer positions this year.

“Camden and Trenton did a much higher percentage, and you know life does go on. We are asking our cops to do more now because there’s less of them there, but we still feel that we will be able to provide an adequate amount of public safety,” said Lucas. He said that reducing headcount through attrition is one way of lowering pension and health benefit costs. “When you look at the Township budget, that is the overwhelming, largest portion of it,” he added.

In accordance with state mandates, the township will pay an 18 percent increase for health benefits; pensions will increase by 24 percent.

One agreement that could help the township reduce costs is the voluntary 1.5 percent salary contribution to cover medical benefits, which the state and public unions negotiated this year. Lucas noted that most of the unions began that agreement voluntarily in July. 

Through the New Jersey Sustainable Energy Joint Meeting, the township is also negotiating the installation of solar panels on their buildings. According to Lucas, solar energy will cut electricity rates from 17.8 cents per kilowatt per hour to 7.2, which is a substantial savings.

While discussing how to balance the budget this year, three residents took the opportunity to voice their complaints about the town’s , and how they can keep Manalapan an attractive place to live. 

Green expressed his own frustrations with the state of some township roads.  

“We just got money set aside through capital to pave roads, especially after this winter season. There’s some potholes on Oxford (Road) I can tell you about that I have to dodge every single day or else I’ll be getting towed,” said Green.

Towards the end of the meeting, Green reminded everyone that the school system budget is being finalized in March and encouraged residents to voice their input to the Manalapan-Englishtown Board of Education.

On Tuesday, March 1, the Board of Education a tentative school year budget. A public hearing on the school budget is scheduled for March 29 at Wemrock Brook School.

Former Deputy Mayor Susan Cohen, who was in attendance, acknowledged the hard work of the Township Committee in developing this year's municipal budget.

“It’s never taken lightly. And I know you’ve been working very hard since the last budget,” said Cohen, acknowledging the challenges of a zero tax increase.

“It’s certainly a lot different than five, six, seven years ago where, you know, the mindset was just, ‘Everything’s going well. The residents really don’t care if there’s a six or eight or a ten percent tax increase.’ You know now we’re very sensitive to trying to do everything we can to keep the budget flat. So it is a very different mindset. I agree with you 100 percent,” said Lucas.

Lucas and Green are planning another Town Hall meeting between the budget's introduction and its approval scheduled for April. Links to the 2010 budget are available through the township Finance Department's website.

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