Even though the temperatures outside City Hall fell below 80 degrees Fahrenheit on May 19, the council chambers boiled as the City Council voted to approve its $134 million municipal budget, over the objections of Councilman Gary La Pelusa, who asked where exactly the city intended to get $27.5 million to fill the gap between expenses and revenue.
A month from the end of the fiscal year, the Bayonne City Council voted 4-1 to approve a $134 million budget for 2010 that relies on a $27.5 million IOU from the Bayonne Local Development Authority and keeps the tax rate as is.
“How on earth did the state approve this budget?” La Pelusa asked, alluding to a possible “fire sale” that would discount some of the 432 acres at the former Military Ocean Terminal.
“It would be irresponsible for me to vote on a budget when I don’t know where the money is coming from.” – Gary La Pelusa
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“How am I supposed to make an intelligent decision as to whether or not the deal for the base is a good one if no one in this administration is willing to tell me anything about the deal?” he said.
Frustrated by the lack of information about where the money is coming from, La Pelusa at times yelled, even throwing down his pencil in frustration, telling the Bayonne Community News later that neither he nor the members of the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority had been briefed on a potential deal.
“Normally, we would go into closed session and are told that we can’t talk about the details,” he said. “That would be fine. I could at least tell my constituents that I was told but I can’t say anything. How can I vote intelligently when I don’t know anything?”
The budget covers spending from last July 1 through this June 30.
La Pelusa’s ethics questioned
The heat rose even higher when Charles D’Amico – the city attorney – tried to raise ethics questions about La Pelusa’s role in the investigation of state Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone. La Pelusa testified before a state grand jury that he kicked back paychecks to Chiappone when working as a legislative aide in 2005.
“That has nothing to do with this,” La Pelusa said. “This is about telling people where the city intends to get the money it put into a budget. That’s why I voted no. It would be irresponsible for me to vote on a budget when I don’t know where the money is coming from.”
While the city council has voted on budgets previously that were connected to potential land deals, according to La Pelusa, in the past the BLRA and the City Council were informed of the details, and usually had a written contract with the developer.
“We have no written contract, and the BLRA has not yet presented us with a budget,” La Pelusa said. “And considering the history of these projects, I have every right to be concerned.”
La Pelusa said he gave a list of deals that were made in the past, but in each case, nothing was built.
The city is in a tough place. Although Mayor Mark Smith routinely said no deal had been in place to build a mall on the section of the MOBTY closest to Route 440 two months ago, city officials had anticipated a sale of land when introducing the budget.
“Some people on this council said that was a rock solid deal,” La Pelusa said. “But it apparently fell through.”
Since then, city officials had kept a lid on possible negotiations, so that even key people in government have been kept out of the loop.
Speculation on the potential new deal has been circulating though the city for weeks, with union members and others suggesting that a container port is being considered for a large portion of the MOTBY – and that such a deal would need to involve the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which just purchased a portion of nearby Greenville Yard for use to transfer trash.
As it is passed, the budget would keep taxes at the same rate as last year, meaning that a home valued at $133,000 will pay $2,090 for the fourth quarter, the same as the bill that went out in February.