HomeMy Public PortalAbout2000/02/15
An Informal Meeting was held by the Mayor and Council of the
Borough of Carteret on Tuesday, February 15, 2000, Municipal
CourtJPolice Facility, 230 Roosevelt Avenue, Carteret, New Jersey.
The following were noted present:
Councilmember Patrick Crilley
" James O'Brien
" Remy Quinones
" Janet Santoro
" Buddy Sohayda
Noted absent were Mayor James A. Failace, Councilmember Jack
Fazekas and Borough Attorney Craig Coughlin.
Also noted present were Business Administrator Nicholas Goldsack,
Borough Treasurer Patrick DeBlasio, Tony Neibert, Brian O'Connor,
John Pieczyski and Ted Surick.
Statement of Meeting Notice was mailed to the Home News Tribune,
the Star Ledger, and posted on the bulletin board on February 11,
2000.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the 2000 Local Municipal
Budget.
Borough Treasurer Patrick DeBlasio said he gave everyone a booklet
which included a summary of what is going on. He said it also
included a comparison tax rate that shows where we came from and
where we are going. He said if you look at 1999 for the local tax rate
you will see a certain number there, and if you look at the year 2000
you will see where this budget stands today. He said as far as he and
Business Administrator Goldsack are concerned this budget is a
working document that can be changed. He said this does not mean
we are going with these numbers, this means that this is the point we
are at and we can work at this document and help "'tweak it" clean.
He said the effect of that tax rate on the average household is listed on
the next line. He said net valuation tax hold basically shows the
growth of the town. He said it went from nine hundred thirty two
million (932,000,000) to nine hundred thirty four million
(934,000,000) so the growth is relatively stable. He said the more the
town grows the lower your tax rate goes. He went on to discuss the
surplus numbers. He said in 1998 the number was one million nine
hundred thousand (1,900,000) and in 1999 it was one million four
hundred thousand (1,400,000). He said the Finance Committee
anticipated using eight hundred fifty thousand (850,000) of that
number in this year's budget to keep taxes at the level it was presented
at. Mr. DeBlasio also stated this budget does not include three
hundred thousand (300,000) dollars of state aid that we received last
year. He also stated the state requires you to introduce your budget
without the aid and then they will determine later if you will receive
the aid.
February 15,2000
INFORMAL MEETING
February 15,2000
PRESENT
STATEMENT OF
MEETING NOTICE
PURPOSE OF THE
MEETING
DISCUSSION
'ebruary 15,2000
)ISCUSSION CONTINUED
Councilmember Patrick Crilley asked if the eleven cent (.11) increase
would go down if we received the three hundred thousand (300,000)
dollars in state aid.
Borough Treasurer Pat DeBlasio agreed.
Councilmember Janet Santoro asked how much it would go down.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said three cents (.03).
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio went on to say that every ninety three
thousand (93,000) dollars cut out of the budget will cut the tax rate one
cent (.01). He said if you increase the budget by ninety three thousand
(93,000) dollars it will increase the tax rate by one cent (.01). He said
that the anticipated collection rate is being maxed out.
Council member Patrick Crilley asked why the Borough Treasurer
went down on that number in comparison to last year.
The Borough Treasurer explained that you can not go above the
number you were at last year.
Councilmember Crilley then asked if the revenue reflected any
additional taxes that we are getting from the new industry in town.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said no. He said that comes in as an
added assessment in October, if it hits the books this year at all. He
said you can not anticipate collecting future revenues.
Councilmember Crilley said this is based on the actual value of
properties as of today.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said he had highlighted some larger
items, namely salaries. He said medical insurance is basically the
driving force behind this budget. He said the insurance numbers went
from one million eight hundred thousand (1,800,000) dollars in 1999
to two million three hundred thousand (2,300,000) dollars in the year
2000. He said LOSAP is what has been voted on by the public to fund
the pension for the volunteers. He said this includes (inaudible)
Councilmember Crilley asked if this was the second year of the
volunteer fire department.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said yes. He said we did not pay a penny
out for the first twenty five thousand (25,000) (inaudible).
Business Administrator Goldsack said there is still an IRS problem
with that.
Councilmember Crilley asked if it was encumbered.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said yes. He said it was set aside in last
year's budget, but we did not layout a penny yet. He said the IRS is
saying not to pay it.
Councilmember Crilley asked if these people are not getting their
pensi on credits.
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Business Administrator Goldsack said that was correct.
Councilmember Crilley asked if it would be retroactive back to 1999.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said yes it will. He then went on to say
the budget shows new hires.
Councilmember Crilley asked who this concerning.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said it was only four part timers in the
Parks Department.
Councilmember Crilley asked if it was in the summer.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said about ten thousand (10,000) to
twelve thousand (12,000) dollars.
Councilmember Crilley said there were two last year. He then asked if
those were on the list.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said anyone that was full time is on the
budget now.
Councilmember Crilley said we had two part timers last summer.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said he thought there were four part
timers last summer.
Councilmember Crilley said actually he was going to have four kids at
twenty hours each, instead he did two kids at forty hours each.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said that was fine. He said the budget
anticipates four part timers for the amount of ten to twelve thousand
dollars to help out in the summer time.
Councilmember Crilley asked if that would come out of the Recreation
salaries. He said that is what it came out of last year.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said this was set up in the Parks
Department.
Councilmember Santoro asked how much money are we talking about
for the four part timers.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said ten to twelve thousand dollars.
Councilmember Crilley said last year they took the money to pay the
summer time kids out of the recreation salary budget that we use to
pay the summer high school kids. He said that kind of left us
(inaudible). He said what we are doing now is to budget separately so
that the money is still there for the kids.
Councilmember Santoro asked if we are all right. She wanted to know
if Councilmember Crilley anticipated hiring any and all of the kids for
the summer program.
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February 15,2000
DISCUSSION
CONTINUED
'ebruary 15,2000
)ISCUSSION CONTINUED
Councilmember Crilley said yes, for that program we hire any body
that comes in to fill out an application.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said the more important point is if we
anticipate hiring someone else during the year, it is budget time and it
needs to be discussed so the money can be put aside.
Councilmember Crilley said what about (inaudible).
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said that is what we need to discuss.
Council member Santoro said this means any new hires in any other
areas.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said we have a listing of every employee,
their salary and showing exactly where they're at. He said if we are
going to add to that list we need to budget for that. Borough Treasurer
DeBlasio went on to speak about severance pay. He said there is about
three hundred and ten thousand (310,000) dollars sitting in the budget.
He said that this is down about one hundred fifty thousand (150,000)
dollars from last year.
Councilmember Santoro asked is this what we know now, or at least
what we anticipate.
Councilmember Crilley said they have to put it in by February 1,
otherwise they could put it in after February 1, but we do not have to
pay them in this calendar year.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said we meet our CAP, that we do not
have a CAP problem. He reiterated this budget is a working
document, we can amend this budget any time prior to adoption. He
said we have thirty thousand (30,000) dollars in the fund balance of
our capital account, one hundred and one thousand (101,000) dollars in
capital improvements, twenty two thousand (22,000) dollars in reserve
for sewage. Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said to complete the picture
we have four hundred thousand (400,000) dollars that will be going
back into the sewer account for the year 2000. He said that would
bring the number for sewer projects to four hundred and twenty two
thousand (422,000) dollars, and this budget is showing that we will be
putting in two hundred thousand (200,000) dollars more into the
capital improvement fund, so we have three hundred thousand
(300,000) dollars in capital projects.
Councilmember Crilley asked how much did we purchase (inaudible),
forget the sewer, but for capital projects last year.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said without going through the
ordinances he did not know. He said we did some library projects, so
it was up there. He said we just did the five hundred thousand
(500,000) dollars for phone (inaudible), so that was set aside.
Councilmember Crilley said no I'm not talking about that, what did we
budget.
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Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said we put two hundred thousand
(200,000) dollars in last year to transfer over to the capital account,
and that's what we are doing this year.
Councilmember Crilley said and then we put the additional five
hundred thousand (500,00) dollars in there. He then asked where did
we get the five hundred thousand (500,000) dollars.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said temporary funds.
Councilmember Crilley said so that did not come out of capital
(inaudible).
Business Administrator Goldsack said just a down payment.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said just the down payment of five
percent (5%) came out of the capital fund.
Councilmember Crilley said he would like to have a break down of the
capital account.
Councilmember Santoro asked what projects are you looking to do,
what are you going to do with this money.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said this will probably be one of the
toughest things to do this year. He then went on to talk about the
budget summary. He said the budget is extremely confusing this year.
He said this is because the State came out with this thing called
Flexible Chart of Accounts. He said basically this means they did not
like the accounts we had before, so we have to reassess them to make
them more acceptable. The State came up with this Chart of Accounts,
so this really changes our budget a lot. Borough Treasurer DeBlasio
went on to say this year's budget will be very confusing to the public
because of the one line items.
Councilmember Crilley asked if this was the GAP system.
Business Administrator Goldsack said it's getting there.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said yes it is getting there, but it is truly
not GAP.
Councilmember Crilley said it looks like it.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said all utility charges have been pulled
out of all these accounts. He said you will see some accounts coming
down by ten or fifteen thousand dollars, people will think their budget
has been cut, but they really have not. He said they have just pulled
utilities and put them in a separate account. Borough Treasurer
DeBlasio said he would like to discuss revenue.
Councilmember Santoro asked if revenue is what we collect.
Business Administrator Goldsack said it is every line item. He said it
is state aid, fees that we collect, licenses, plus (inaudible).
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said it is all income.
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February 15,2000
DISCUSSION
CONTINUED
~ebruary 15,2000
)ISCUSSION CONTINUED
Councilmember Santoro asked if that would show any money like in
(inaudible).
Councilmember Crilley said no, that is expenditures.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio asked Business Administrator Nick
Goldsack if he wanted to call the departments one at a time, to go
through what their budgets are.
Councilmember Santoro said (inaudible)
Business Administrator Goldsack said what has occurred is due to a
major project that is coming into the Borough. He said we are getting
an additional two hundred thousand (200,000) dollars, so we called the
State for some direction. He said we want to anticipate those dollars.
In order to anticipate those dollars this years, what the State told us is
that they had no problem with us realizing the revenue, as long as there
was sufficient dollars being set aside in the construction office to take
care of the project.
Councilmember Santoro said we were concerned when we were
asking the difference of (inaudible), whereas we must not have as
much choice if we have to spend (inaudible) that we are over. She
said she would rather see it spent on personnel or something within
that department.
Councilmember Crilley said but that's revenue, that's in the budget.
Councilmember Quinones asked if they are talking about the money
they just mentioned.
Councilmember Crilley said yes.
Councilmember Quinones said you are saying that you can add it to
the budget.
Business Administrator Nick Goldsack said we can add it to this year's
budget, only if we reflect on the appropriation side that portion of
those dollars are being utilized by the Construction Office.
Council member Crilley said this is always the case because you have
their salaries and their (inaudible).
Business Administrator Nick Goldsack said there are additional
monies that came in this year that we are requesting that we can
anticipate in this year's budget.
Councilmember Crilley asked if we are talking about 1999 or 2000.
Business Administrator Goldsack said 2000. He said it's over two
hundred thousand (200,000) dollars for a specific project. He said
what occurs with the Construction Office is that the State allows you
to anticipate what you have brought in, in the previous year.
Councilmember Crilley asked if they collected more than we
anticipated.
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Business Administrator Goldsack said no.
Councilmember Crilley said generally permits and fees are general
revenue. He asked Business Administrator Nick Goldsack if we know
we have projects coming in, can we anticipate the money.
Business Administrator Goldsack said only if we get approval from the
State.
Councilmember Crilley asked if we have enough time to do that.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said yes.
Council member Santoro said she was concerned where we are starting
off. She said we are only in February, just basing on where the rest of
the year is going and maybe (inaudible).
Councilmember Crilley asked if this two hundred and twenty eight
thousand (228,000) dollars is reflected again in our eleven percent
(11 %) increase.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said yes.
Councilmember Crilley said so if we did not have that two hundred
and twenty eight thousand (228,000) dollars, we would be going up to
thirteen percent (13%). He said that he wants to remind everyone this
is general revenue not Tony's budget.
Councilmember Santoro said I understand it goes into general revenue,
my concern is if they can bring that much additional revenue in it
should justify us possibly looking at that different position.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said that Construction Official Tony
Neibert's budget went from twenty six thousand (26,000) dollars to
sixty six thousand (66,000) dollars. He said the main difference is
there are two vehicles in the account we are figuring out to be about
twenty thousand (20,000) dollars each.
Councilmember Crilley asked Mr. Neibert what vehicles.
Construction Official Tony Neibert said to my understanding It IS
Charlie's truck, which we are going to trade off to the custodial
department.
Councilmember Crilley asked Mr. Neibert what year is that.
Construction Official Neibert said he thinks it is around seven years
old. He said he believes it is a 1993. He said he would like to
continue the conversation regarding revenue. He said in the year
2000, the department (based on the permit from Meridian Square)
brought in a two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) dollar
anticipated revenue. He said he knew the Council was aware that CRP
received approval for a large warehouse. He said also there has been
approval for thirteen hundred (1300) Federal Boulevard putting in
another facility in that is similar to MCI World Com. Mr. Neibert said
the Port Carteret Project has been passed. He said the anticipated
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February 15,2000
DISCUSSION
CONTINUED
TONY NEIBERT
CONSTRUCTION
OFFICIAL
~bruary 15,2000
ISCUSSION CONTINUED
)OLICE DEPARTMENT
rEHICLES
revenue for building fees are about one hundred and fifty thousand
(150,000) dollars. He said the Lager Brothers is another large building
which will probably bring in about fifty thousand (50,000) dollars,
MCI World Com was approved last month for a six thousand (6,000)
square foot addition. He said right now in his office there are permits
outstanding of over seven thousand (7,000) dollars, and the new
building (inaudible). He said we also have a major inquiry in the old
Carteret Lumber area for approximately eight to ten, two family
houses. Mr. Neibert said He anticipates this year that the Billing
Department will bring in revenues between five hundred thousand
(500,000) to seven hundred and fifty thousand (750,000) dollars based
on these proposed projects. Construction Official Neibert then spoke
about hiring a Technical Assistant. He said with a clerk retiring that
would compensate for a portion of the new position salary.
Borough Treasurer Patrick DeBlasio said the budget does include this
new position. He then went on to talk about the Police Department
Budget. He said the budget last year was two hundred thirty eight
thousand (238,000) dollars and this year it is two hundred fifty nine
thousand six hundred and twenty (259,620) dollars.
Police Officer John Pieczyski said they need three new vehicles. He
said those vehicles, two Police vehicles and one SUV, preferably a
Ford Explorer. Police Officer Pieczyski said the second item he wants
to discuss is training.
Borough Treasurer Patrick DeBlasio said there was sixty thousand
(60,000) dollars for vehicles last year and we actually spent seventy
seven thousand (77 ,000) dollars.
Police Director Chris Elg said they ordered two vehicles out of last
year's budget and one vehicle out of this year's budget.
Councilmember Santoro asked if these were replacement cars.
Police Director Elg said yes, we currently do not have any four wheel
drive cars. He said that is why they we want a Ford Explorer.
Councilmember Santoro asked who was going to be using the four
wheel drive car.
Police Director Elg said anyone assigned to patrol. He said it will be a
marked vehicle.
Councilmember Santoro asked what would happen to the cars you take
out of service.
Police Director Elg said some of them have over one hundred
thousand (100,000) miles on them. He said they will go to the
graveyard or to another Borough department.
Business Administrator Nick Goldsack said if they are useable.
Councilmember Crilley asked if seventy thousand (70,000) dollars is
enough to get three vehicles.
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Police Director Elg said it will be nineteen thousand (19,000) dollars
for one, twenty one thousand (21,000) dollars for the other one and
about twenty four thousand (24,000) dollars for the SUV.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said Police Training was thirteen
thousand (13,000) dollars in 1999. He said that they are requesting
thirty five thousand (35,000) dollars this year.
Council member Jack Fazekas was noted present at 7:50 p.m.
Borough Treasurer Patrick DeBlasio said the Police Officers that retire
now will not get their money until next year.
Police Director Elg said there are people that are eligible to retire, but
have not approached us.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said there are three people who have put
in for severance.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said the Fire Department's Budget last
year was one hundred seventeen thousand (117,000) dollars. He said
this year it is three hundred thirteen thousand (313,000) dollars.
Fire Department Superintendent Brian O'Connor said twenty four
thousand (24,000) dollars would be used for equipment. He said they
need pagers for the volunteers. He said they would like to purchase
five pagers at about three hundred fifty (350) dollars each. Mr.
O'Connor said they had eight men retire in about a year and a half. He
said he is asking for one additional man. Superintendent O'Connor
said the volunteer ranks are down from seventy to about forty. He said
the new man would also work in the Fire Prevention Office with
Captain Richert.
Councilmember Remy Quinones asked what the first year salary for a
fireman was.
Fire Department Superintendent O'Connor said twenty nine thousand
(29,000) dollars. He said the salary will jump ten thousand (10,000)
dollars quite quickly. Superintendent O'Connor said in operating
expenses last year he spent about forty five thousand (45,000) dollars,
he is asking for an increase of about fifty five hundred (5,500) dollars.
He said he wants to buy air tanks, approximately five each year. He
said the tanks cost nine hundred (900) dollars each. Superintendent
O'Connor said he is asking for a Fire Prevention Car. He said the car
he is using was given to him by Police Director Elg and it has ninety
seven thousand (97,000) miles. He said he would like to
lease/purchase a vehicle at seven thousand (7,000) dollars a year. He
said he is asking for ten thousand (10,000) dollars for gear, such as
boots, helmets, jackets and masks.
Business Administrator Nick Goldsack asked if anything was put into
the budget in anticipation for the (inaudible) MAT for that helmet.
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February 15,2000
DISCUSSION
CONTINUED
COUNCILMEMBER
FAZEKAS NOTED
PRESENT
FIRE DEPARTMENT
ebruary 15,2000
ISCUSSION CONTINUED
PUBLIC WORKS
DEPARTMENT
Fire Department Superintendent O'Connor said the thermal camera
will be received for free. He said every Fire Department in the State
of New Jersey will get a minimum of one free. Mr. O'Connor said the
air conditioners are the originals to the building. He said they have
bought one and it will be installed as soon as the nice weather sets in.
He said he wanted the Mayor and Council to know that the air
conditioners in the Seniors area and on the Career side can break down
at any time.
Business Administrator Nick Goldsack asked if the thermostats
worked in Mr. O'Connor's area.
Fire Department Superintendent O'Connor said yes. He said there are
two other things for Capital Expense. He said one is the fire truck,
which is constantly breaking down. Mr. O'Connor said the fire truck
he would want is about four hundred thousand (400,000) dollars with
equipment. H said without equipment the truck would be between
three hundred twenty five thousand (325,000) dollars to three hundred
fifty thousand (350,000) dollars. He said the other thing for Capital
Expense is the Volunteer Fire Chiefs car. Mr. O'Connor said the
present vehicle is constantly breaking down and in the garage. He said
he is asking that the vehicle be replaced.
Councilmember Crilley asked how much revenue we get out of
inspections and things like that.
Borough Treasurer Patrick DeBlasio said we get two revenues. He
said we get uniform/fire safety money which is around fifty thousand
(50,000) dollars and then we get the sell of fees which is
approximately ten thousand (10,000) dollars.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said in regards to Street and Roads, there
is fifteen thousand (15,000) dollars in salaries for snow removal. He
said there is twenty thousand (20,000) dollars for salt and sand.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said basically last year there was a
budget of five hundred thirty three thousand (533,000) dollars this year
the budget would be six hundred thousand (600,000) dollars.
Superintendent of Public Works Ted Surick said he needs a backhoe,
air compressor, salt spreader and salt shed.
Councilmember Remy Quinones said there is forty five thousand
(45,000) dollars for the backhoe, and ten thousand (10,000) dollars for
the air compressor.
Ted Surick said he has two salt spreaders and he needs another one.
Councilmember Crilley asked how much a salt spreader cost.
Mr. Surick said they are eleven thousand (11,000) dollars and an
additional thirty five hundred (3,500) dollars to mount it.
Councilmember Crilley asked what Mr. Surick's department used an
air compressor for.
Mr. Surick said the air compressor is used for the street signs that need
to be put up, jack hammer the road, jack hammer the concrete etc.
10
Councilmember Crilley said he agreed the Borough needed a salt shed,
the problem was where do we put it.
Mr. Surick said this has always been the problem.
Councilmember Santoro asked if Mr. Surick's department was all right
when it came to vehicles.
Councilmember Crilley said Mr. Surick's department had more cars
than anybody.
Mr. Surick said if the Maintenance Department needs a vehicle, he
suggests they give them Carpenter's old truck and buy us a new truck.
Councilmember Crilley said we already figured that.
Borough Treasurer Patrick DeBlasio asked if anyone wanted to go
over any of the smaller accounts. He said he would like to discuss the
Buildings and Grounds Department. Mr. DeBlasio said he would start
off with salaries. He said there are four people listed in that
department.
Councilmember Santoro said with the opening of the new building, we
do not know if we are going to be able to clean all of the buildings.
Mrs. Santoro went on to talk about the maintenance men and their
schedules and responsibilities.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said he feels they have the maintenance
under control, it is the cleaning end he is concerned with. He said with
this in mind, he pushed the overtime a bit extra on this account.
Business Administrator Nick Goldsack spoke about Recycling. He
said there would be a meeting on Thursday with the County regarding
Recycling. He said in the event that we do have the County do the
Recycling we could utilize one of the men that normally did the
Recycling for the Buildings and Grounds Department. He said
presently it is costing us about one hundred forty five thousand
(145,000) dollars more than we are taking in to do the Recycling.
Councilmember Buddy Sohayda said so you are saying we are going
to save that money.
Mr. Goldsack said he did not know if we are going to save that money.
Councilmember Sohayda said everyone would stay in tact as far as
employees.
Councilmember Janet Santoro asked doing what.
Councilmember Crilley said if we privatized Recycling, people are
going to go. He said we are not doing this just to get rid of Recycling,
we are doing this to save money.
Councilmember Remy Quinones said she does not think anyone is
agreeing to anything tonight. She said we have to sit down (inaudible)
like we did last year.
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February 15,2000
DISCUSSION
CONTINUED
BUILDINGS AND
GROUNDS
RECYCLING
ebruary 15,2000
)ISCUSSION CONTINUED
MAYOR FAILACE NOTED
PRESENT
Councilmember Santoro went on to speak about Buildings and
Grounds. She said the Annex is in decent shape. She said she would
recommend in the Budget, that we keep the Annex in decent shape.
She said if there is something they need, let's not wait until it breaks.
Business Administrator Nick Goldsack said he needs to know what
direction the Council wants to go in respect to the buildings. He said
they are bringing in a Structural Engineer to do an assessment on
Thursday. He said it is quite obvious that there are some serious
problems.
Councilmember Crilley said Borough Hall is the main concern right
now. He said we can not leave that building the way it is. He said in
the end we will save money because when the building is done, we can
pull the people out of the Annex and the Recycling Office and put
them all in one building.
Business Administrator Goldsack said the needs for the sewer in the
year 2000 is two million seventy five thousand (2,075,000) dollars.
He said to keep in mind the fund pays for the bonds, and we do not
have to provide a down payment. He said that money will take care of
the whole list of projects that Killam gave us on the initial
presentation.
Councilmember Crilley told Councilmember Janet Santoro to get three
architects to give free estimates on the buildings.
Councilmember Santoro said if she has the Council's permission to do
so, it will be done.
Mayor Jim Failace was noted present at 10:00 P.M.
Borough Treasurer Patrick DeBlasio said he felt we could operate the
general maintenance of all the buildings for eighty eight thousand five
hundred (88,500) dollars. He said this figure is for maintenance only,
not improvements. Mr. DeBlasio said if this figure went up to one
hundred thousand (100,000) dollars it would not affect the eleven cent
(.11) increase. He said we do have one hundred and ninety two
thousand (192,000) dollars of electrical charges and about one hundred
and ten thousand (110,000) dollars is from the sewage (inaudible).
Mr. DeBlasio then confirmed he was making Buildings and Grounds
one hundred thousand (100,000) dollars.
Councilmember Crilley asked why did the salaries of the Planning
Board and Zoning Board go from five thousand (5,000) dollars to
fourteen thousand (14,000) dollars, and from five thousand (5,000)
dollars to fifty thousand (50,000) dollars.
Borough Treasurer DeBlasio said they are looking at hiring a new
secretary, which would obviously be an additional salary. He said the
other reason for the increase is the Technical Assistant position for the
Construction Office.
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Mayor Jim Failace asked how much was being funded for retirements.
Business Administrator Goldsack said three hundred ten thousand
(310,000) dollars and that covers three people.
Mayor Failace then asked where are we at in respect to the Municipal
employees and hospitalization.
Business Administrator Goldsack said we are meeting with Gartland
on Friday, and he is coming up with the proposal on the self insured
program.
Councilmember Crilley said he wanted to put one hundred thousand
(100,000) dollars for ten years on Capital Park Improvements. He said
he wants to do it by putting referendum on the (inaudible) Open Space
Tax. He said he wants to put it in this year and replace it next year
with the Open Space Tax.
Mayor Failace said we need to immediately bond at least two million
(2,000,000) dollars for our sewers. He said we need to do this to
prevent getting fined again by the DEP.
Business Administrator Nick Goldsack said this is a self-liquidating
account, it has no impact on the budget. He said in addition, Bonding
Council says we will not have to provide a down payment for that.
Mayor Failace said he felt very comfortable that we would get at least
two million (2,000,000) dollars in Federal Money.
Councilmember Jack Fazekas said they took about fifty (50) to sixty
(60) thousand dollars for the Library telephones from the bond.
Business Administrator Goldsack said Police Director Elg has some
money for this year. He said he left the funds for the stand by and
replacement radios however, he took out the thirty two hundred
(3,200) dollars for painting the Police Department. He said the
Document Imaging was not in this year's budget.
Councilmember Jack Fazekas said twenty five thousand (25,000)
dollars would cover new software, a training program, (inaudible). He
said he felt the town needed about seventy five hundred (7,500) dollars
for Fiber Optics. Mr. Fazekas said with this in mind he would suggest
keeping the budget at fifty thousand (50,000) dollars.
Mayor Failace said he has been working with John Riggio regarding
Catholic Charities and he said he is meeting a ton of resistance from
the Carteret Board of Health.
Councilmember Janet Santoro said the Board of Health told her they
have not been involved in the negotiations.
Mayor Failace said there have been no negotiations.
Councilmember Santoro said she knows there would be a letter from
their attorney requesting that they be involved.
13
February 15,2000
DISCUSSION
CONTINUED
SEWER BOND
LIBRARY TELEPHONES
POLICE RADIOS
FIBER OPTICS
CATHOLIC CHARITIES
'ebruary 15,2000
)ISCUSSION CONTINUED
ADJOURNED
Borough Treasurer Patrick DeBlasio said the eleven cent increase is
good for State Aid, however it is not good for the public.
Mayor Failace said he would like to see it at nine (9) cents. He said he
does not want to see this number increasing every year. Mayor Failace
asked Business Administrator Goldsack to look this budget over and
see what else the town could get in grants.
Business Administrator Goldsack said he would formulate a Capital
Project Program.
Mayor Failace said we are looking for extra money for Ethnic Day.
He also asked that everyone take a look at the Budget to see if there
are any adjustments that need to be made within the next four to five
days.
There being no further business or discussion, upon MMS&C by
Councilmembers Quinones and Fazekas and unanimous affirmative
vote of the full membership present the meeting was adjourned at
approximately 11 :00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
i:Æ:~7
Municipal Clerk
KMB/par
14