What could anybody say about taxes not going up? Thus, this year’s municipal budget passed without a hitch at the April 10 council meeting as town officials celebrated a third year of stable taxes.
The Town Council passed its $33 million budget for the year 2001, saying it will hold the line on taxes again, as last year’s budget had. Local taxpayers can expect to pay $10.49 per $1,000 of assessed value on their homes as a result of the municipal portion, or about $2,343 on the average home. This does not include potential increases due to the school or county budgets.
Although Mayor Dennis Elwell issued praise to the various town employees who helped put the pieces of this remarkable fiscal jigsaw puzzle together, he took note of some of the dour expressions of department heads who were forced to keep their budget requests reasonable.
In what are still considered plush times for Secaucus’s economy, the municipal budget needed no smoke and mirror miracles to make the numbers add up, as the town administrator noted cheerfully that the budget surplus this year – that amount left over after all the bills are paid – will be larger than last year, giving a promising forecast for next year’s budget as well.
While Art Glaeser grilled the council over specific line items, even he failed to come up with significant holes in the town’s calculation.
While patting each other on the backs, municipal officials claimed that careful examination of each budget request, plus wise planning for the future allowed this years budget to remain largely the same as the previous two years, a feat, the town administrator has attributed to the leadership of Elwell.
Keystone cleanup bonding approved
In a move nearly as significant as passing the budget, the Town Council also passed an ordinance that would provide up to $750,000 for the clean up of contamination attributed to the former Keystone Metal finishing plant.
Officials were careful to say that they would only borrow on this bundle of cash as needed, and that the cost of the clean up may have less of an impact on local taxpayers if all goes well.
The cleanup is expected to cost something in the area of $400,000 this year, as chemicals are injected into the ground water on the property located at Raydol Avenue and Humbolt Street as well as in areas off the property.
The council also took a series of steps that would help settle an ongoing lawsuit against the town. Several years ago, a group supporting access to people with disabilities filed suit against Secaucus as well as other towns in Hudson County that claimed the governments had not moved quickly enough to meet federal guidelines for providing access.
As part of settling the case, the council introduced an ordinance that would create a position in town hall to which access complaints could be filed. Since the town administrator already holds the position of Equal Opportunity Officer, the Town Council introduced an ordinance that establish the position. In a concurring resolution, the council gave Iacono the added duties as access complaint officer, though the proposed ordinance did not establish a salary.
Consent agenda
In consent agenda items, the council passed a resolution transferring $380,000 in fees collected from development to be used for the rehabilitation of affordable housing in Secaucus. Under federal law, significant improvement or major new development must pay a percentage to the local municipality to provide for affordable housing. To date, Secaucus has collected about $1 million. The move by the town would authorize the Secaucus Affordable Housing Board to use some of the money collected towards rehabs.
In an equally significant move, the council approved three people to sit on its newly created Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Under state regulations, this board must be bipartisan, and thus the board will have two democrats and one republican. The council approved Edward Bienkowski for a three-year term, Cory Robinson for a two-year term and James Sheridan for a one-year term. Reappointments later will be for three years.
In another resolution, the council voted to appoint Carol Valentino as an administrative clerk in the zoning office, and in a third resolution, appointed Linda Lundy as assistant administrative clerk in the office of the Department of Public Works. In a final resolution, the council asked the United States Post Office to consider creating a stamp commemorating municipal clerks.