The chief financial officer for the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue department – which provides firefighting services for five towns in northern Hudson County – said in a letter last week that three of those towns owe a total of $10 million to the department.
If the issues aren’t resolved, wrote CFO Christopher Pianese in a letter dated Feb. 4, he will be “forced” to resign from his position on March 1. Pianese also serves as the town administrator for North Bergen.
Although Pianese and NHRFR officials declined to say which towns are late with paying, officials in both North Bergen and Guttenberg said they have paid on time.
West New York Business Administrator Joseph McConnell said that his municipality had been up to date on contributions since the middle of last year, when a new chief financial officer was hired. He said they were “deeply concerned [about] who’s not paying” because a quarter of West New York’s budget went to the NHRFR.
The NHRFR was formed in 1999 from the five towns’ departments – North Bergen, Guttenberg, Weehawken, Union City, and West New York – as a way to save money and increase efficiency.
But since then, some officials in those towns have complained that their fire service bills have actually gone up since the regionalization, blaming the NHRFR for some of their budget woes.
Late in paying?
The letter was addressed to NHRFR Chairman and Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner, NHRFR board member and Guttenberg Mayor Gerald Drasheff, Union City NHRFR board member Martin Martinetti, West New York NHRFR board member Janet Passante, and North Bergen’s NHRFR board member Francis Bruno.
Pianese’s letter stated, “I have attempted on countless occasions over the past few years to impress upon this board the importance of proactively preparing for future budgetary increases and the necessity of making timely contribution payments.”
He said that the costs of the NHRFR include “contractual obligations, rising pension and health benefit costs, apparatus replacement, and building repairs.”
Pianese said the NHRFR’s budget had not seen any major increases over the years, stating that it usually increases by 4 percent.
In the letter, Pianese stated that the “sole source” of funds comes from member municipalities, and that without regular monthly payments, “the financial stability of the organization will become a serious issue.”
Turner: Towns having ‘cash flow’ trouble
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner said last week that the reason for the late contributions is because everyone, from the federal level to local government, is experiencing a “cash flow” problem. He said that because a state budget hasn’t been finalized in Trenton, municipalities haven’t been able to adopt their own budgets yet because some are waiting to see if they will receive extraordinary aid.
Because Weehawken hasn’t been able to pass their budget, they have only been able to send out their 3rd quarter tax bills, he said. Turner said that as they get funds, they will make their contributions, but that first they must pay for “critical payroll, debt service [and] other bills.”
“None of [the municipalities] have gone this late without a budget, but we cannot do anything until the state talks to us,” said Turner, who explained that North Bergen may be the only North Hudson municipality to pass its budget.
Turner said that it was a “sign of the times” and expected the next state budget to be even more arduous.
But he also said that providing fire services was a main goal of the town, and that operations had not been affected by late contributions.
He said that Pianese had done a great job at the chief financial officer over the past 10 years.
“[This has been] building up frustration in Chris, because he’s the one who’s supposed to deal with this added burden,” said Turner.
Highlighting a problem
Drasheff said that Pianese’s letter shined a light on a problem that is occurring in the NHRFR. He said that he had only been on the board since November, but is pretty sure that Guttenberg is current with their contribution.
Guttenberg, which once had a volunteer fire department, pays quarterly, while the other four municipalities pay monthly, he said. In their 2009 fiscal budget, $2.4 million is allocated to the NHRFR.
Pianese said in his letter, “Although I still believe the regionalization of this Fire Department was a very innovative and cost effective merger that resulted in a tremendously improved fire service for North Hudson, the proper funding and the necessity to budget and pay for certain fixed costs that are inherent to this type of public safety service needs to be dealt with right now in a professional manner.”
Tricia Tirella can be contacted at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.