S.B. council adopts budget with layoffs, tax increase
BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer

Town officials in South Brunswick recently approved a spending plan that they say was the result of one of the most difficult budget processes they could recall in years.

The council trimmed $1.5 million in spending in the $49 million budget, which was introduced in April. The amount to be raised by taxation is $26 million.

The five-member governing body unanimously adopted the budget at the South Brunswick Township Council meeting June 23 after further reducing operating expenses by roughly $126,000.

Chief Financial Officer Joseph Monzo said that the budget increases taxes by 4.5 cents per $100 of assessed value. The tax rate is 67 cents per $100 of assessed value, which is up from last year's tax rate of 62.5 cents. The owner of a house assessed at the township average of $194,000 will pay $87 more in municipal taxes.

Monzo cited a decrease in surplus revenue and a reduction in state aid as some of the causes of the increase. He said surplus revenue is down from the prior year because of the downturn in the economy.

Monzo said the budget includes seven layoffs instead of eight, as was originally proposed. The governing body decided not to downgrade a secretary in the social services department from full time to part time.

The council amended the budget to include changes as a result of restructuring portions of the organization of the planning department. It also includes a reduction in the number of days that the municipal building is cleaned from five to three.

In addition, the council amended the budget to reflect cuts in spending in some departments. The town would also not use its consulting engineer unless a developer pays for the service after June 1.

The council reluctantly voted to reduce its pension contribution in April, with Councilman Joseph Camarota casting the lone dissenting vote. He said at the latest council meeting that he was voting to adopt the budget despite some reluctance, noting that the pension deferral was the only assistance that the state provided them with during the most arduous budget process in many years.

"We were backed into it," he said. "I don't want to be in that position again."

The pension deferral, which achieves a one-time savings of $1.3 million for the town, provides the town with the flexibility to defer half of its payment until 2012. The town would then pay it off over a 15-year period, and it could end up paying an additional $90,000 per year, since the interest on the deferred pension may be 8.5 percent.

Members of the council have noted that cutting the budget by $1.3 million to avoid the pension deferral would likely have resulted in the elimination of an additional 20 jobs, which would impact services.

Councilman Charles Carley said he was not happy with the budget process, but he was encouraged by the support the cuts have received. This budget is leaner than last year's budget, he said, and no one is happy about the layoffs.

"There is a lot in this budget that I ordinarily would not support, but these are not ordinary times," he said. "I think it sets the stage for what's sure to be a difficult budget in 2010."

Deputy Mayor Chris Killmurray agreed that this was a difficult budget process and said that he would normally oppose some of the actions in the budget, but he supports them under these circumstances.

Mayor Frank Gambatese thanked staff and township officials for working on the budget and scrutinizing it for several months. He said that he would like to reduce it even further, but that would require a reduction in services.

Councilman Mahesh Shah said that the council cut expenses without impacting essential services, and he noted that while officials did not want to defer the pension, they had little choice. He said that some of the decisions that had to be made with this budget were difficult to make and are a result of the economic crisis.

"It's hurtful to see the layoffs in town," Shah said.