Although ostensibly geared for Mayor Terrence Malloy to repeat his State of the City address, the Feb. 13 town meeting drew complaints about the county takeover of the senior transportation services, as well as the impact of taxes.
Gerry Sieben, a part-time driver for the now-defunct Bayonne senior transportation program, told Malloy during the public comment portion of the town meeting that the Hudson County Transcend Program is not providing the same high level of service for Bayonne senior citizens as the Bayonne program it replaced.
“Many seniors cannot drive, see well or walk well,” Sieben said. “Some need canes, walkers or wheelchairs. They cannot fend for themselves.”
Many of these seniors cannot afford even the reduced rate of taxi fares, leaving them to rely on transportation services to get to doctor appointments.
These seniors suffered a double blow over the last year. With the financial troubles at Bayonne Medical Center, the free transportation service the hospital offered was stopped over a year ago. Last year, the city instituted layoffs that resulted in the closing down of the city’s transportation network in an effort to cut the cost of vehicle repairs as well as eliminate the salaries and benefits to drivers.
To help pick up some of the burden on seniors, Hudson County agreed to take over senior transportation.
Malloy said the city had agreed to pay the county $100,000 a year to pick up local seniors, a deal that still saved the city money.
But Siebel said seniors aren’t receiving the same level of service they did previously.
One problem is that seniors have to call a week in advance, and even then the county can’t accommodate them.
“Others have to call three times a week to verify their appointments,” Siebel said.
The county, in some cases, claimed they lacked records of seniors calling to make transportation reservations.
“When they wait for return transportation, the can wait as long as one and a half hours,” she said.
Although the Bayonne program, when run out of the city’s Office on Aging, was also often overbooked with requests, local supervisors were able to make exceptions for those in most need.
Malloy said Freeholder Doreen DiDomenico is aware of the problems, and has been meeting with county transportation people to solve it.
“I’m told the county will be doing a $500,000 upgrade to its computer scheduling system,” he said.
City is trying to raise revenues and reduce costs
In another matter, Leonard Kantor raised questions about the 2008-2009 budget and asked how the city intended to fill an expected $25 million budget gap.
Malloy said he opposes laying off police or firefighters, and will reduce costs by not replacing those who retire, or by changing some of the work schedules. He said the city has also increased fees as a means of raising revenues, especially fees directed at those who use programs rather than rely on taxpayers to pay for various programs through property taxes.
“The municipal budget is a challenge,” Malloy admitted. “How do we balance providing tax relief against providing services in order to reduce the cost of government? We have laid off employees and that has saved the city money. But I hope that when the financial situation changes, we can hire those people back.”
Malloy said early retirement incentives will help save the city money in the future, and those employees will not be replaced.
“Restructuring our debt has also saved the city $1 million,” he said. “We have also saved money by requiring some employees to pay a share of their own health care costs.”
He said the city is seeking new revenue sources, such as residential development and the Bayonne Medical Center, fees charged for adult recreation, and other fees.
The fund transfer for sale of land at the former Military Ocean Terminal is also a key ingredient in keeping taxes down, he said.