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Home My Public Portal About1996/05/17 A Special Meeting of the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Carteret was called to order by Mayor Peter 1. Sica at 6:00 P.M., Friday, May 17, 1996, Council Office, Municipal Building, 61 Cooke Avenue, Carteret, New Jersey. Upon individual roll call, the following were noted present: Councilmember Deborah Bialowarczuk " James Failace " William Feingold " James O'Brien " John J. Vesey, Jr. Noted absent was Councilmember Jack Fazekas. Also noted present was Borough Attorney Robert A. Hedesh. The Assistant Clerk stated that on May 14, 1996, in full compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, a notice of tonight's meeting was sent to The Home News & Tribune, The Star Ledger and posted on the bulletin board. To take formal action on the School Board Budget. Mayor Sica said Resolution #96-144 proposed to cut $100,000.00 out of the budget. RESOLUTION #96-144 was introduced by the Mayor and was referred to the Council for action. Councilmember Failace asked if there was a public portion before they voted on it? Mayor Sica said not in a Special Meeting. Councilmember Failace said he thought that is what happened the last time. MAY 17, 1996 SPECIAL MEElING ROU CALL STATil1ENT OF MEElING NOTICE PURPOSE RESOLlITION #96-144 Determining Amount to be Raised by Taxes for 1996-1997 School Year $100,000.00 Cut ~ HAY 17, 1996 t1eetó.ng Opened Public Input Re: School Board Budget Resolution #96-144 $1.00,000.00 Cut ~7'" Mayor Sica said not in a Special Meeting. Councilmember Failace said he thought that is what happened the last time. Mayor Sica said if Councilmember Failace wanted a public portion, they would have a public portion. Councilmember Failace said he didn't see why not. Mayor Sica asked if anyone in the audience wanted to speak. JANET SANTORO, President, Carteret Board of Education, said she knows there has been a lot of discussions since the last time the Mayor met with the Board. She wanted to mention a few things before they took a vote. She reminded everyone that the State recommends a 3% surplus in the accounts. She said they are at $70,000.00. The State recommends over $600,000.00 They are short $530,000 in their surplus. She asked that the Council keeps that in mind on the line items they recommend that can possibly be cut. Not that they agree with those line items. They would like a chance to explain those line items further. She asked them to keep in min the surplus. Mrs. Santoro said there was mention about Nathan Hale School and why they didn't put it up for sale. The discussions ofthe School Board and the Mayor and Council was on the budget. Nathan Hale School is not in the budget and they have not decided what they are going to do with Nathan Hale School. She said they are not going to make a mistake like they did with Cleveland School. A year after it was closed they ran out of space in the district. The people in town wondered why they got rid of that building. They will look at that building when the their new buildings are open and in session. They are not going to jump and be sorry a year from now. Mrs. Santoro said as a parent of two children in the district, she would never put the education of her children or give anything to anybody else before she educates the children Mayor Sica said he was sure she was serious about that. ROBERT COWAN, President, Carteret Educational Association, said since the defeat of this budget this community has been subjected to what has become typically Republican political rhetoric. Mayor Sica said if Mr. Cowan wants to talk on the school budget, that's one thing. Mr. Cowan is not going to come here and grandstand and politic. That's out of the question. He ruled Mr. Cowan out of order. !vir. Cowan said there are a lot of misconceptions out there and things need to be put into context. There has been a great deal of criticism concerning the tact that teachers salaries are too high. He would like it to be know that the median teacher's salary is $56,000.00 in this community. The experience that goes along ~~th that is eighteen years. They are talking about people making $56,000 a year after eighteen years experience. He pointed out that these are people with four year college degrees. At the same time, there are people working for the Borough who don't have college degrees and are making over $50,000. That teachers salaries are too high is taken way out of context 2 1ffJ.~t.~f,tb"'" ; ,;~,>,;¡!f.1~,"~·_~-¡'^~" it:¡ ,tIu{, " , Mr. Cowan said there is a great deal of criticism of teachers' medical benefits. The point is always made that teachers are enjoying free medical benefits at the expense of other people The truth is the teachers only enjoy free medical benefits after they pay, to the Board of Education, $10,000 in premiums. They have a co-pay that amounts to $10,000. He doesn't know of any other group in this county that pays a co-pay that high. The point he wanted to make, and it wasn't being super-political, is that they are being used as a scapegoat for the fact that they are responsible for raising the budget and therefore, increasing tax rates. The truth is that income tax has been cut and a greater burden has been placed on the property tax owner. That is state-wide. He said here we are, protecting that lady in Trenton......... Mayor Sica said here we go again with politics. Mr. Cowan continued and said blaming teachers for the increase in ratables, when they know the salaries aren't overly high and that are paying $10,000 in co-pay. He said to tell the people the truth. Be fair and help move this community forward. Don't be divisive. Leave the budget intact. Bring this community together, don't divide it one age group against the other. Parents against Seniors. They sympathize with the Seniors, but it's not the educators in this community that are creating the hardship. It's the fact that the burden has been taken and placed on property taxes. People who can least afford it are shouldering the burden. He said they realize that, but only because the income tax of the people who can best afford it have been relieved. That's the truth. At approximately 6:10 P.M., Councilmember Jack Fazekas was noted present. JESSIE BAGALA asked what they were going to do about the busing in Carteret. She understood ifthe Council cuts their budget we won't have any busing. She asked what were they going to do about busing to St. Mary's and St. Joseph's? She pays $9,000 a year in taxes. She can't understand why they have to pay the busing too. She asked if this was fair? Mayor Sica said if this budget is appealed to Trenton and courtesy busing is cut out, the taxpayers will pick up the cost of the courtesy busing. Mrs. Bagala thanked him. FRANK PARISI, Vice President, Carteret Board of Education, said last year the Mayor gave the Board some advice on certain line items that he wanted them to look at. In fact, it cut $50,000. He said they appreciated that advice and looked into it and were able to save some money. He asked if that was possible to do again this year. If they could do that and still keep the budget intact, they have many avenues to put the money to use. A lot of good can be done with this money instead of just cutting. He would appreciated it if they could possibly keep it together. They all want the town to move forward, as the Mayor mentioned in reference to the Sports Building, the Library and the schools themselves. They would like to keep it moving forward and doing it together. MAY 17, 1996 Public Input Re: School Baaed Budget Resolution #96-144 $100,000.00 Cut tV,y 17, 1996 ?Ùblic Input Re: School Board Budget Resolution if96-144 $100,000.00 Cut 'c_ ~,~, ~þ Mayor Sica said this year this Council sat down and negotiated our hospitalization. We've decreased our hospitalization. The Board increased theirs. We must have done something right. We must have done some hard negotiations. As of yesterday, he sat down with a new carrier, CIGNA. We have a Blue Cross Blue Shield policy. CIGNA is willing to give us equal to Blue Cross Blue Shield at a 13% savings over and above what we saved on Blue Cross Blue Shield. On top of that we negotiated with our liability insurance and decreased ours. The Board increased theirs. They have decreased their schools, their liability factor, but increased their premium. He understood they are negotiating. These negotiations could have been done prior to striking this budget and the Board would have had that number to work with. Perhaps, that will come in a lot less and he's relatively sure it is going to, but they have increased it in their budget. Those are the kind of areas they have to look at. As he explained, custodial costs are out of hand. When you decrease the facility by two schools, you should be able to decrease something else. He didn't ask them to even do that. He asked that all the teachers understand the plight of the taxpayers in this town. The per capita income in the city ofCarteret is shrinking daily. We've lost some of the industries that paid the big tax dollars. The tax dollar we derive from industrial pieces of property are one thing, but the per capita income that the people ar emaking is shrinking daily in this town. We can no longer afford to give big raises. He asked that the teachers hold the line on raises. If they can hold the line on raises, he would not recommend cutting a single dollar from the budget. Nobody in the Board of Education would agree to it. He is sure Mr. Cowan, the head of the union, will not agree to that. We've asking the Borough employees to hold the line. We have taken that approach in the Municipal Budget and he defies any teacher or administrator to look at the Municipal Budget and find dollars where people can be given raises. If they have to give people raises in the Borough this year it will cost some people jobs. That's unfortunate, but we have to hold the line because of the per capita income of our taxpayers. Until we can see our way clear of that, we have serious problems in this town. We've addressed those problems by nit- picking insurance companies, utility companies, oil companies, etc. We can't do any more. We gave them proposals last year with telephones, etc and that was all done and it was good. He has given them proposals again this year. He thinks that no matter what cut we make here, if they follow through with those proposals they will be able to realize a surplus at the end of the year. He is willing to commit not to take one dollar out of this budget provided the teachers give back a little. If the teachers truly have the taxpayers at heart, they will realize the plight the city of Carteret is in. They teach those kids every day. They know that those kids are barely making it. Their families are barely making it. It's out of hand and somewhere we have to hold the line Mayor Sica said he is not disagreeing with Mr. Cowan that the problem may be in Trenton. He said you could blame it on the Governor, the Legislature or anybody you want in Trenton. That doesn't address the problems here in the city of Carteret. Until such time that we take the initiative here, then we shouldn't chastise anyone else. He has never said the teachers were overpaid. He said it's time they took a breather and gave the taxpayers a break. He called it "The Year of the Taxpayers". Every year the taxpayers always vote the budget down and only twice in nineteen years has the budget been cut. L¡ Ms. Santoro said there was $350,000 last year and this year. ",C'>,__ Mayor Sica said this is where it is at. The taxpayers just can't afford it. The teachers have to understand. They come from communities and have the same problems in their communities. He is sure their taxes are increasing in their communities. It's a matter of economics. It's not a personality thing, despite what Mr. Cowan says, that he doesn't like teachers, because he happens to like teachers. Nobody thinks education is more important then him. Mr. Parisi said as far as the lighting program and the insurance, they are already looking into that. The lighting program all had to go together because that was the only way we could get an agreement with PSE&G to do the entire district in one shot. Mayor Sica said they came here with that same proposal. We told them to prove it to us. Do the Police Station first and if that works and PSE&G is so confident that we are going to save the kind of money they are talking about, wait a year and if it proves to be a savings then we will do the rest of the Borough next year. Our figure was about $70,000 also and we said no way. Prove it first. He knows some municipalities they sold it to and it didn't work. The savings were not there. Mr. Parisi asked if the Borough realized the savings in the Police Department? Mayor Sica said they are just doing it now. We won't know until next year. He is not about to commit $70,000 of the city ofCarteret's money because PSE&G says it's going to be great. IfPSE&G were so good we wouldn't be pa}~ng the rates we are paying ow. PSE&G's profit is dedicated by the Board of Public Utilities and it's on the bottom line it costs them to run their operations. They are allowed a percentage of that as profit. The bigger the bottom line is for them, the bigger profit. They should be thrown in jail as far as he is concerned. They are one of the biggest culprits in the State. They are one of the reasons why industry is leaving this State. We have the highest cost of electricity, with the exception of New York. Industries can no longer afford to stay here because of energy costs. Mr. Parisi said with the salaries and raises, they legally can' comment on it. Mayor Sica said with the step program and longevity there's almost a $500,000 increase in salaries alone. Everybody wants to get a little raise, then the longevity and steps should decrease a little this year to give the other guys a little bit. Maybe increase it two years down the road. In the meantime, give the taxpayer in the town a breather. They cannot afford it. If the union would agree to something like that, then we would have taken a different approach to this. At least he would have He can't speak for the Council. Ifhe is going to get $5,000 and there is no money to give other people raises, he'll take $4,000 and give the other guy a little bit. They can make it up later on when the economy picks up. When the per capita income picks up. When we get some more industry in Carteret. When the Urban Enterprise Zone starts to produce the jobs he anticipates it will produce. This Council and last year's Council worked real hard to bring in a lot of jobs in this town. Not big paying jobs, because there are not big paying jobs because the idiots shut down everything in this country nAY 17, 1996 Public Input Re: School Board Budget Resolution #96-144 $100,000.00 Cut MAY 17, 1996 Public Input Re: School Board Budget Resolution #96-144 $100,000.00 Cut ~. STAN GUTOWSKI said last year when there was talk of a budget cut, as well as this year, the first thing you hear is that busing will be cut. Last year there were some parents who came to the meeting and asked about busing. They asked if the Borough could pick up busing, if in fact the school board did cut it or it was appealed and cut. They were told it was illegal. The Borough could not pay for busing. Is there something different this year that the Borough could pay for busing? Mayor Sica said last year our budget was already struck and there wasn't any money in there. If he recalled, at our last Council Meeting, our budget was going to be announced and he told them to hold it until this budget was adopted because if this was going to be appealed and courtesy busing is taken out, we will increase our budget a penny or two and pick up courtesy busing. Mr. Gutowski said then the only reasons was it was illegal. Mayor Sica said we couldn't do it. The budget was struck. There was no way to get the money in there and he was 99.9% sure he couldn't go to Trenton and say there was an emergency situation. That doesn't work. LOUIS PANIGROSS, Superintendent of Schools, said he was putting a pitch for a no-cut on this budget. He gets rather chagrined when we talk about our Senior Citizens because he is one, along with many, who feels the property tax should not be utilized to support the schools. He is a strong proponent of other taxes. Possibly an increase in Sales Tax or Income Tax. He is not going to pontificate on that. He does wish to mention a few things and a few thoughts that come to mind because being directly involved with the budget process" he wants the Mayor and Council to know that when he sat down with the board and did this budget they did consider, for the last two years, the taxpayers of Carteret. He didn't want that to go unheard because he thinks that makes us divisive. The time has come that for the betterment of Carteret. We have to come together. In that vein, both years we were given permission by the State to raise the budget beyond our CAP because of the needs of the schools in Carteret. Last year, we could have raised that budget only $600,000 beyond CAP. This year, based on enrollment, we were given permission to raise it over $500,000. Both times both the administration and the Board of Education rejected that route. He wants the Council to be aware ofthat at least from a fairness standpoint. That was taking into consideration the fact that would have given them money to do many things, but it would have been a tremendous burden to the taxpayers. Therefore, both times we only went to the CAP and the CAP represents what the State is telling us what we need to keep the district going for the following year. In doing that, he thinks they made a firm commitment to the taxpayers of Carteret. He was a teacher for many years in Carteret and they had to do what he thought they would never have to do and that is cut teachers. Which again affects livelihoods when that is done. To say we did that, took into consideration the taxpayers of Carteret. He will live with that for the rest of his life because he knows the hurt it caused. Be that as it may, if you put it all together, two years ago people in Carteret said if we went ahead with the building program taxes would go up by $300 and $400. He listened to that and that was a true tìgure that was put out there. There are people in this room who stood up and said that. In the last two years they have undergone construction and we have not hit $170. Which is still too much. He realizes that, but they couldn't get their special meetings movement going in the legislature and that has hurt us terribly. 6 .f--· Mr. Panigrosso said overall, we have tired to forge a budget that will allow us to continue the progress of the district and at the same time take into consideration the taxpayer. It's always too much. Mr. Panigrosso said as a closing note he thinks if the Council reconsiders this year, this might be the critical year they are entering because of all the ramifications that are coming down from Trenton. It is a year we need to struggle through. He believes it's a year in which they have to start talking with each other, making progress and coming together Stopping the rancor and saying once and for all if we are a proud community on the move, we have to be a proud community both in the school system and in the community. Finally, what better things can we do then to make it better for the students of Carteret, who will then no longer move out of town, but will become the stalwarts ofthe town. As Superintendent, he asked that they not cut this budget. He pleads with the people of Carteret to understand that they do not want to raise taxes. His comments are especially directed to the Senior Citizens who have worked hard and are now on fixed incomes to bear with us for one more year. He could assure them that they will do everything in their power to keep budgets under control year after year. He thinks the Council know they have been committed to that for the last two years. He thanked the Mayor and Council for their time. Mayor Sica said no one in this town supports fixing the schools more than he did. He wishes the $170 was $270. If it was just the case of fixing schools and running plants, he had no problem with that. He was the one that was firmly committed. He didn't want to fix the schools the way they did. They know what his proposals were. He wanted to tear all of them down and build new ones. He figured the kids in this town are worth it. They are worth it to him. He happens to be a very substantial taxpayer in this town. He pays many thousands of dollars in taxes. He could care less if his tax bill goes up because of that. He is asking the teachers, and he doesn't think it's too much to ask, to give back a little bit. He agrees with Mr. Panigrosso 100%. It's a critical year as it's a critical year for the School Board, the Borough and the taxpayers in the Borough. He spent a few thousand dollars in time and money trying to wine and dine a company to come to Carteret. They were going to build a million square foot building. It would have brought maybe 1 Y2 million in taxes. A whole year of his time went down the tube two weeks ago. He went to talk to another guy and he got a building being built now. He will not stop. It's critical times. He is not asking the school or the teachers to take the hit alone. We are doing our job here trying to cut corners every place we can. We are trying to build a library, a sports complex and a marina. We're trying to make better homes for people. As Mr Parisi stated it is a critical point in Carteret. Carteret was going down. It is coming back. Last night at the Council Meeting we gave incentive to get people like White Rose in and White Rose called the School Board for thirty kids to work in the summer. 7 Mayor Sica said they bit the bullet bringing in D.B. Brown Some people said we were crazy because we gave them a tax incentive. After the tax incentive is gone from zero tax to the five year incentive program, they will have paid $3,000,000.00 in taxes in those five years. He sat down with the owner of White Rose in the anticipation of putting an additional 200,000 square feet, increasing the size of his operation by one-third. MAY 17, 1996 Public Input Re: School Board Budget Resolution #96-144 $100,000.00 Cut MAY 17, 1996 Public Input Re: School Board Budget Resolution #96-144 $100,000.00 Cut . , them a tax break if they will do that. Another company is coming in here gambling on the city ofCarteret to put in 160,000 square foot refrigerator. We will give him a little bit of a break. It's a critical time in Carteret. Unlike some of the towns. like Perth Amboy. We are trying. An unidentified man said they have new schools in Perth Amboy. Mr. Panigrosso said the taxes are still too high. Mayor Sica said very high. He is asking the teachers to take a step back and take a little less this year. It will get made up later on down the line. He said they never ask anyone to be less than the next guy. He has not asked everyone in the community to bite the bullet including the industries. PAT CRILLEY said all the things the Mayor mentioned should be commended. As a resident and a taxpayer who owns a business, he appreciates it. His questions are in line with two things. A few things came up in previous meetings that weren't brought up to the board during their joint session. That is the selling of schools. He said the Mayor mentioned he would not cut the budget if the board guarantees that the money that was saved would go to the High School for repairs. They certainly can't make that guarantee. There are many things that need to be done. He would like to make it clear that the board understands the economic responsibilities that fact this town. To suggest they don't is bad. They understand it as well as anybody. They are citizens, taxpayers and workers, they understand. Their responsibility is to educate the children and to do that in the fairest way for the taxpayers. It's not an easy job. He said they had opportunities to raise the taxes more. They need to move forward. He sat on the Finance Committee and they looked at the budget and eliminated $1,000,000.00 worth of salaries and $1,600,000.00 from the total. When they first sat down, before they got the figures from the State, they put everything in. Computers - $100.000.00. Repairs to the High School roof which is still leaking in the same spots as when he was there. Mr. Crilley said they put all ofthat in the budge and when the budget came up it came up to $26,500,000.00. Then they got they got the figures from the State. The State said the can only spend $25,000,000.00. They have to eliminate $1,600,000.00 from their wish list. They didn't eliminate the computers because they were important. On the $200,000.00 for the roof, he doesn't want to be the one sitting on the Board responsible when that roof falls down and someone is hurt. Where is going to come from? It's going to come from people and cuts in programs. They electively did these things. To suggest they don't understand the economic responsibilities that face this town...... Mayor Sica said he didn't say that. Mr. Crilley said the Mayor had said that he wants them to guarantee things they won't give guarantees on. The Mayor is saying it in a backhanded way. He said the Mayor said he wants all Borough unions to take a zero. He appreciates that, but there are no guarantees that will happen. They are going into negotiations like we are. Whether the Mayor knows the law better than they do, but they were advised not to speak about this. That doesn't mean they don't understand their economic responsibility. 8 ___J , ,~ ,("~i.·;·.-, <t:~"j Mr. Crilley said they are going to do what is best for everybody. He heard about the negotiations between two parties and both sides came out unhappy. Mayor Sica said if one side comes out happy, someone didn't win. Mr. Crilley said nobody here knows what's going to happen and the same thing with the Borough contracts. The Mayor doesn't know what's going to happen. He may have an idea. He said they have a plan, the same ideas, but what happens, happens. In order to budget they have to budget for the unknown. It's a difficult task. Giving the Mayor the benefit of the doubt in his first meeting where he had $250,000.00 worth of suggestions, ifhe said he was absolutely correct, what are they left with? They are still left with a $25,000,000.00 budget with a $73,000.00 reserve account. If they could find $250,000.00 and left it in the reserve or used it toward the High School, leave it there. If they realize profits on insurance, they have uses for those profits. The Mayor is suggesting it will abe be given to the teachers. That's the future and they can't predict that. They are suggesting if there is money to be found they have other uses, good uses. Mayor Sica said he believes that wholeheartedly. But, he is also smart enough to realize that with or without the $250,000.00, they are still only going to realize a $73,000.00 surplus. l Pat Crilley said which is disastrous. Mayor Sica said it can or can't be. It's all according to how they spend their money. Mr. Crilley asked if that was good budgeting, to leave a $73,000.00 surplus? Mayor Sica said good budgeting is to come out with zero surplus. If it were possible to build a budget with a zero surplus and keep it every year, that person would be a genius. He is not saying they can do that. If they put $73,000.00 of their projected surplus and work hard enough, it can be done He said the Borough has ~~sh lists. The Borough's budget is drawn up by every member of this Council. Every Department Head comes in with a wish list. Mr. Crilley said they have already pared $1,600,00000 off that budget by paring people. They did the ultimate sacrifice. JANET SANTORO said she cares about the education. Mayor Sica said he believes that wholeheartedly. They may have their differences on other things, but he knows how she feels about kids. Mrs. Santoro asked the Mayor to trust her to negotiate and move the town forward. She would never compromise the education of children. 9 Mayor Sica said he thinks she is losing sight of what he is asking. He is asking that the teachers union commit to live within only the money that is there and not get an additional raise. MAY 17, 1996 Public Input Re: School Board Budget Resolutó.on #96-144 $100,000.00 Cut ttAY 17, 1996 Public Input Re: School Board Budget Resolution #96-144 $100,000.00 Cut Mrs. Santoro said the Mayor is guessing what the outcome is going to be. She asked him to believe in them and give them a chance to prove it. Mayor Sica said he is asking for commitment from the teachers in this community to work with the town. Mrs. Santoro said they are in the process of negotiations and they understand the plight of Carteret. They have been advised by their attorney they are not allowed to discuss the conditions of the contract. She is asking him to look at her and tell her she would put the education of one student in this district before anything else. Mayor Sica said his cuts don't propose to put any students in jeopardy. Mrs. Santoro said the Mayor's cuts aren't what they can do. She said these are our administrators and they know they can't do that, which means they are back to square one to find the money from someplace else. They have cut programs. They have cut programs in the High School and she would love to replace them. $100,000.00 that is being proposed is minimal. She asked him to please leave it intact. They have moved the district forward. She asked for one last chance to reopen in September. MR. COW AN said he wants to comment on the negotiations the Mayor keeps referring to. He is not making any guarantees. He is going to the bargaining table with the same premise he has gone with before for the last twenty years. This association (CEA) has always gone to the bargaining table and kept three things in mind. Obviously, the interest of the staff, interest of the students and the interest of the community. If the Mayor was familiar with the collective bargaining history of this organization, he would know that they have made agreements and backed off agreements because the Board of Education couldn't find the money. They did that when Jack Cieslarczuk was president. At that time they went back to the table because the Mayor personally requested it. The CEA has always acted responsibly at the bargaining table and will continue to do so. The Mayor makes the implication that the people in this association continually take from the town. Mayor Sica asked who said that? That's just Mr. Cowan's opinion. If he wanted to grandstand, he can. Mr. Cowan's five minutes are up. Mr. Cowan said nobody supports the kids more than the CEA did. They give scholarships. Mayor Sica said Mr. Cowan was grandstanding. He said he also give out scholarships out of his own pocket. Mr. Cowan continued about scholarships to Boy's State, Girl's State and they sponsor Special Olympics and support the Office of the Disabled. If the Mayor is going to criticize teachers. Mayor Sica said he understands Mr. Cowan is president of the union and he 10 has to say things, but he said he has never criticized the teaching staff in the city of Carteret. Mr. Cowan said the implication is.... '~"i:t1\(· , ¡ \~,'-t;,~ ' '...,,,., Mayor Sica said no, it is not an implication. It's"'à fact. He is asking the teachers in the community to bear with the community and accept a lesser raise. Use the money that's in their step and longevity programs and balance it out and get no other raise other than that. Mr. Cowan said they call i collective bargaining for a reason. Mayor Sica said he was right. That's the end of it. TOM LANG, Colgan Avenue, said eleven years ago his taxes were $1, I 00.00 and $1,200.00 a year. As of this past year they are over $4000.00. Ifhe was working he would pay it. He would be more than happy to pay his fair share to see the teachers get their raise and to see everybody happy. He said the town is steadily declining because of industry. He was living proof. Today, as of3:30 P.M., he is out ofajob. Again. After three years. That was him walking on the turnpike with a sign that read "Good Worker Needs Job". He will be out there again Monday morning. Industry is leaving. Ifhe can't afford to pay his taxes or mortgage he will have to leave He doesn't want to leave Carteret. He loves Carteret. It is the best place he had ever come to in his life. 1 Mayor Sica said he know Mr. Lang is in construction and he is in construction Two years ago he had 300 people working in his construction company. He has two secretaries working now. He had to close down the construction end of his business because there is no work out there. He understands Mr. Lang's plight. He understands the taxpayers plight. He is asking the teachers to understand that. This is a blue collar town. The blue collar salaries have decreased. They have shrunk to the point where it is tough for a blue collar person to make the American dream come true. All the teachers are making a decent salary and they deserve what they get. He's not asking them to take any less than they are getting now. He is sa~ng to hold it for a while. That's all he is asking. Ifhe got that commitment, he wouldn't cut five cents out of the budget. If there is a cut made here and if the teachers feel the way he feels, that the kids come first, then they will take somewhat less of a raise for this year and maybe we'll negotiate it differently next year. The New Jersey Supreme Court decision just came down and it say exactly what he has been saying. We cannot predict what's going to happen ten years rrom now. To give a raise ten years in advance is not good policy. Two ways. If you can't afford it, you are in trouble. If you can afford it, they are in trouble. It cannot go that way. The raises that were negotiated in the step program and the longevity program are going to kill this city, this year. He is saying hold that. Use it. Maybe next year things will be a little different. Maybe he will be successful in getting a big industry in here again. Right now the economic climate is just not there. He is positive that if the teachers take less money, it is not going to hurt the teachers as bad as the tax raise is going to hurt the people that can't afford it. He gave an example of a parishioner in his church who lost his job and asked him to help. He found him ajob pa~ng $16,000.00 less than what he was making. That man is a taxpayer in Carteret and he can't afford it. He has stacks of applications. Every teacher has an opportunity for themselves and their kids to be educated and make the American dream come true. The dream of having a owning a home, having a couple of kids, a decent car, go on vacation once or twice a year. They can do it. L 11 MAY 17, 1996 Public Input Re: School Board Budget Resolution #96-144 $100,000.00 Cut MAY 17, 1996 Public Input Re: School Board Budget Resolution #96-144 $1.00,000.00 Cut Meeting Closed Not Adopted Cements RESOLUTION #96-145 Determining Amount to Be Raised by Taxation for School ~lrposes - 1996- 1997 School Year $250,000.00 Cut Adopted t1ayor Breaks Tie CorrIT1ents Mayor Sica said in the economic conditions there are now at $7.00 per hour, it's ridiculous. This whole country is in a big mess. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Vesey and Bialowarczuk and unanimous affirmative vote of the full Council present the meeting was closed. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Failace and O'Brien RESOLUTION #96-144 "DETERMINING THE AMOUNT TO BE RAISED BY TAXATION FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES FOR THE 1996-1997 SCHOOL YEAR" was not adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Failace and O'Brien voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Bialowarczuk, Fazekas, Feingold and Vesey voted no. Councilmember Bialowarczuk said she had a resolution of her own and she voted no. RESOLUTION #96-145 was introduced by the Mayor and was referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Bialowarczuk and Feingold RESOLUTION #96-145 "DETERMINING THE AMOUNT TO BE RAISED BY TAXATION FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES FOR THE 1996-1997 SCHOOL YEAR" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Bialowarczuk, Feingold and Vesey voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Failace, Fazekas and O'Brien voted no. Mayor Sica voted yes to break the tie. Councilmember Bialowarczuk said a lot of people weren't here last night when she expressed her reasons why. Two years ago she made a promise and she keeps her word. She promised to keep taxes stable. We blew a hole in everyone's budget last year and she knows that because she pays taxes also. She listens to a lot of people in town and a lot of people are out of work She's trying to hire a lot of these people where she works. The plant workers are getting $6.50 an hour. 12 Councilmember Bialowarczuk said these people are in their forties and fifties. There is no place to go except back to that type of plant work. Their tax burden is $3,000 - $4,000 and they can't swing it anymore. She will not break her word. She hasn't broken it on the Borough's budget for the last two years and she will not break it on this. She has three children in the school system, but she feels it has taken her husband and herselfto do what they have to do to pay their taxes and other people just getting by doing what they have to do. They talk about team work. Then it's time that everybody pull together as a team. Everybody has to make sacrifices, not just the older people in town and not just the people her age with children. Everybody. That's her reason for putting this together. She voted yes. Councilmember Failace said he absolutely feels this is not the way to go. He doesn't think we should be taking the money from the salaries at this point. As he said last night, that ties up their hands with the negotiations and he thinks it's ludicrous. He thinks $100,000.00 was a reasonable number. One that could be lived with. Talk about a new year, new schools, there's a lot of things going on. A lot of things that are conjecture. A lot of things we don't know. He voted no. J Councilmember O'Brien said he teaches in a Catholic School by choice. He doesn't make a lot of money. He enjoys what he teaches. People say teachers are overpaid. That's one of the biggest lines he has ever heard. People say they just work from 8AM to 2 PM. If you are a teacher, you are responsible for those kids. You care about them. You make yourself available every day. Their day does not end at 2 PM. They spend two to four hours a night on homework. They attend special functions and events. He voted no. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Vesey and Bialowarczuk and unanimous affirmative vote of the full Council present, there being no further business or discussion. the meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:05 P.M. J Respectfully submitted, ~ c~ ..~~SG.N.....- C - (I .~ SUSAN E. JACKL , Assistant Municipal Cle 13 MAY 17, 1996 Corrrnents Can't. ADJOUP.NED tlAY 17, 1996 ~tf