Taxpayers trying to rebound from last year’s tax whack have little to look forward to, according to early indicators at City Hall.
The City Council met last Saturday to hear directors pitch their departmental budgets, but little in the way of savings was revealed. Other directors will do the same on Saturday, Feb. 13.
A vocal minority at council meetings is calling for a reduction in police and fire salaries or the City Hall workforce, claiming the most significant savings can be found in the public safety budget.
But city officials still don’t have audits of those departments to begin the cuts, or negotiate lower salaries. Audits of both departments were promised by state Fiscal Monitor Judy Tripodi shortly after she arrived in late 2008, but she claims a state auditor was pulled out of Hoboken and the Fire Department audit was never completed.
“I don’t think anyone has the guts to make the cuts that are needed.” – Beth Mason
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Council President Peter Cunningham said at the council’s regular meeting on Wednesday that he understands the residents’ pleas for more cuts and more information.
But in promising action, he also continued a time-honored tradition in local government: blaming the previous administration.
He said the missing audits are necessary to make informed decisions and the council will find out why they weren’t completed. He also said there still may be forensic auditors brought in to investigate city collection of PILOT payments, or tax abatement payment plans, from prior years.
Zimmer says she’s on the hunt. In an interview last week, she said, “Every day I’m uncovering something new.”
Last week, the city found a termite problem in the Parking Utility offices that has been unattended to for years. The infestation may require the city to relocate the entire office and replace the floors in the very near future, she said.
She said problems like this and the collapsing piers on the waterfront are making substantial budget cuts nearly impossible in the short term.
Russo: Don’t pay the bills
Councilman Michael Russo objected when temporary emergency appropriations – money needed to run the government in lieu of an approved budget – were submitted for the council to adopt.
“We’re not anywhere near the 25 percent tax cut the mayor promised [on the campaign trail],” he said. “We’re not near 20 percent. We’re not near 15 percent. We did not cut anything.”
Councilman Michael Lenz said the 25 percent reduction doesn’t “look like it is going to happen,” but he called for a few million dollars to be struck from the appropriation.
He open-endedly said to Russo, “If you know of any ways to cut the budget…”
Furloughs and tough cuts
The council majority and the administration are proud that they are holding public budget hearings with directors and streamlining budgetary practices in City Hall, a major improvement from the quiet way city budgets were created in the past, usually involving only a few administrators.
“The process, by far, is different,” Councilman Nino Giacchi said. “Unfortunately, the result isn’t any different.”
Giacchi said at the meeting that he would hope to be able to tell his constituents, “ ‘Your taxes went up… last year, but you’re going to be saving a few hundred dollars this year.’ I don’t think I can say that at this point. Can we deliver something for them?”
So far, very few reductions have been proffered by the council, who may be reticent to either remove services from residents or upset the status quo of the municipal workforce.
“I don’t think anyone has the guts to make the cuts that are needed,” Councilwoman Beth Mason said. “Yeah, to have events is nice, but we have to stop being nice right now.”
Cunningham said that municipal employees can expect furlough days to be initiated in the near future, although he said the savings will be fairly minimal.
Jersey City has started furloughing employees two times a month each month, although the $2 million in savings is a very small part of that city’s budget.
State hiding audit?
Mayor Zimmer said in a press conference Wednesday that the state is withholding the police audit, a document that might help them cut the public safety budget.
“ ‘Not yet’ is just not acceptable,” Zimmer said.
Although Zimmer would not admit it, many believe she is pushing for the release because the information could be helpful in city contract negotiations with police.
She said she was given “a variety of reasons” for the delay by Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) Director Susan Jacobucci, but was also told when a draft was given to her in August that there were only “cosmetic changes” that needed to be made to the document.
“Five months to edit is long enough,” Zimmer said.
City Attorney Michael Kates said the city cannot take legal action to force a release of the audit because it is the state’s “work product.”
Zimmer said state-appointed Fiscal Monitor Judy Tripodi, who is handling negotiations for the city, has seen the draft version of the audit, although they cannot share the draft with any other members of their staff.
Tripodi publically supported her call for the state to release the document, but a source in City Hall said every time Zimmer calls the state to ask for the document to be released, Tripodi calls to tell them not to release it.
Tripodi, who was not in City Hall on Wednesday, was not available for comment later in the week.
A DLGS spokesperson did not respond to request for comment.
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.
Sidebar 1
$2,000 fines for St. Pat’s Day, and other days
The Hoboken City Council unanimously passed an ordinance raising city violation fines to a maximum of $2,000 with the possibility for community service on Wednesday. The fines will apply all year round, but were increased in anticipation of the St. Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday March 6 and the usual raucous parties and disorderly persons’ offences.
Councilman Ravi Bhalla asked municipal judges to “use caution” when administering the maximum fine.
Cunningham said residents can expect “a zero-tolerance policy like we’re never seen.”
Lenz said the city has set aside a collection fund to see if donations and other sources of revenue specifically for the parade will be able to cover the cost of the event for the city, estimated to be $100,000 this year.
If the costs are not covered, he said this should be the last year for the parade.
Going back to the budget debate, Lenz said, “We’re going to have to give things up.” –
TJC
Other council meeting notes
Public records watchdog Eric Kurta was appointed to the Hoboken Municipal Hospital Board to oversee Hoboken’s financially troubled hospital at Wednesday’s meeting.
Kurta is a community activist who specializes in campaign finance reform and disclosure. He has served as the president of People for Open Government (POG).
Councilman Michael Russo opposed the appointment and Councilman Beth Mason abstained from voting due to previous dealings with Kurta on POG issues.
Russo asked Kurta some general questions, including what he did for a living.
Kurta replied that he was a “retired student” living comfortably in Hoboken because he bought a multifamily house here years ago and can earn income from it.
Russo asked Kurta if he had made any political campaign contributions.
Kurta said he had donated $1,000 to Zimmer campaign for mayor.
Zimmer critics have pointed out that several of her appointments and hires have been of campaign supporters.
However, Kurta also has experience in health care – he worked at Hackensack University Medical Center for nearly 20 years – and is currently studying municipal budgeting, so he believes he is well-equipped to delve into the problems at the hospital.
Two appointments to alternate member seats on the Zoning Board – seats just created by the council – were tabled, since new resumes are coming in from interested residents. The city will continue collecting resumes at the City Clerk’s office until Tuesday, Feb. 9.