Mayor Michael Gonnelli said at Tuesday night’s Town Council meeting that Secaucus will get $511,000 less in state aid for its city budget next year, which means the town will either have to cut spending, find other revenue sources, or raise taxes.
The cut represents a 22 percent reduction in state aid.
The school district will suffer even more, as two weeks ago the Secaucus Board of Education learned that it will lose all of its state funding – $1.75 million – for the next school year. The affected 2010-2011 school budget will be voted on by the public on April 20 during the school board election.
State cuts could force local tax increases.
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The town budget, on the other hand, will not be finalized for several months. Gov. Christopher Christie’s cuts to the municipality will affect the town’s 2010 budget. (Secaucus uses the calendar year as its fiscal year. Since annual budget gets passed late each year, the town is still operating under the 2009 budget.)
Under the governor’s proposed $29.3 billion fiscal year 2011 budget, public schools throughout New Jersey will lose $820 million in state aid. The spending cuts in education are among several Christie has proposed to close a $2 billion deficit.
“We are not dependent on state aid, either on our end or at the Board of Ed. But it does reflect a large number,” Gonnelli said at Tuesday’s meeting, where the governing body discussed recent cuts made by the governor.
Property owners pay a combined tax amount to the county, the municipality, and the schools, all of which are added together in their quarterly bills.
The budget
The Board of Education is expected to publicly discuss its budget for the 2010-2011 school year at a meeting scheduled for Monday, March 29 at 7 p.m. The budget calls for a 2.5 percent tax increase.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Councilman John Shinnick said, “I find it remarkable that [the Board of Education] could come up with a budget under these circumstances. Even with that reduction in aid they are going to maintain programs. They are going to achieve this through attrition, through consolidated positions, and through good management. We will be able to maintain programs that are not mandated.”
Specifically, he said, the school district will be able to continue all of its athletic programs, pre-kindergarten, all-day kindergarten, field trips, and guidance counseling.
Because of the likelihood of a school tax increase, however, there is concern that residents could vote it down on April 20. If that happens, it will go to the county superintendent of schools for recommendations.
The mayor warned that there could be consequences if voters reject the budget.
“It’s going to be important for people to come out and vote. I’m not going to tell you how to vote. But I can tell you that if the budget goes down, some of these programs that [Shinnick] spoke about may be eliminated,” Gonnelli said.
He added that when voters rejected school budgets in the past, the mayor and council recommended cuts. Now, however, when school budgets are voted down, the Hudson County School Superintendent recommends cuts to the governing body.
Town auditors dismissed
O n Tuesday, Mayor Michael Gonnelli announced that all but six of the town’s 18 contracts for professional services have been awarded. The remaining professional service contracts are for town attorney, labor counsel, town engineer, special litigation attorney, health insurance broker, and dental broker.
A single contract, even for a small town like Secaucus, can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. By outsourcing the work, a town can use the companies’ services only when needed and avoid the costs associated with full-time labor.
A year ago the Town Council approved 23 contracts for lawyers, accountants, public relations specialists, and other professional service providers, spending more than $1 million.
That total was $110,000 less than the amount of money the council spent on professionals in 2008, when 24 such contracts were approved.
Despite the savings, Gonnelli and the other Independents on the council have long argued that Secaucus could save more money by doing some of the outsourced work in-house, and by soliciting competitive bids for the contracts.
On Tuesday the council ended its relationship with Suplee, Clooney & Co., the town’s longtime auditors. A one-year $65,000 contract was instead awarded to Bowman & Co.
Gonnelli explained the change, saying, “I think we’ve had the same auditors for about 15 years, and it’s recommended that you change auditors at least once every 10 years.”
The change in auditors was expected.
Last year, the town’s annual audit uncovered accounting irregularities in the Tax Collector’s Office. That discover led to a widespread investigation of the office and Secaucus Tax Collector Alan Bartolozzi. Problems in that office allegedly date back several years and the Hudson County Prosecutor has charged Bartolozzi with two counts of theft in the second degree. Prosecutors charged that he allegedly stole more than $75,000 from the Tax Office.
After the alleged theft was uncovered, Gonnelli, who was a councilman at the time, and his allies questioned why Suplee auditors hadn’t caught the problem years earlier.
Aside from Suplee & Clooney, political observers have waited to see whether the new administration would also change the town attorney and town engineer. Longtime Town Attorney Frank Leanza, of Leana and Agrapidis, represented Secaucus in several legal skirmishes with Gonnelli before he became mayor. Meanwhile, Gerald Perricone, a political supporter of former Mayor Dennis Elwell, is the executive VP of the PMK Group, long the town engineer.
The remaining six outstanding contracts will be awarded within the next several weeks. – EAW
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.