Guttenberg to move to a calendar year budget
At the Guttenberg Council’s June 29 meeting, several contract resolutions were passed to allow the town to transition from a fiscal year to a calendar year budget.
Right now, the budget runs from July 1 through the following June 30. The change will put budgets more in sync with the state’s budgets, which provide state aid.
Also at the meeting, the township renewed all of their professional service contracts at the same rates as before, but for only six-month contracts.
These services included their grant consultants, Millennium Strategies, LLC, not to exceed $18,000; their public accounting firm Ferraioli, Weilkotz, Cerullo & Cuva, not to exceed $35,000; their municipal engineer Boswell Engineering, not to exceed $25,000; their labor council Murray Law, not to exceed $25,000, and others.
Mayor Gerald Drasheff said that the council hopes to introduce their six-month budget this month and adopt it at their August meeting.
“A lot of the big bills that you have to pay, contributions to pensions, [etc.], do not come up until the second half of the year,” he said. “We’re not going to have to pay that in these six months.”
The switch will come in January. Since the 2009-2010 fiscal year budget was slated to end on June 30, the council introduced an emergency temporary appropriation for the year 2010 at $3,884,238, which covers the budget year through Dec. 31.
Also at the meeting, Police Officer Jeffery Lugo was promoted to the rank of acting sergeant at a salary of $88,850.84, beginning on July 1.
The council also hired Adam Hall, a recent graduate from the Essex County College Police Academy, as a Class II Special Law Enforcement Officer.
Free weight loss seminar at PMC
On July 15 Palisades Medical Center will host a free weight loss surgical options seminar.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m., with free transportation provided from 60th Street and Bergenline Avenue beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Admission and parking are free and food and refreshments will be provided.
The featured speaker is Dr. Stefanie Vaimakis, who is a board-certified general surgeon who is trained in advanced laparoscopy and bariatric surgery. She has expertise in laparoscopic gastric bypass and the “Lap Band,” with over 600 procedures performed. She is fluent in English, Spanish, and Greek.
For more information, call Nikki Mederos at (201) 854-5702.
Senate and Assembly approve library bill
The Senate and the General Assembly have given their final legislative approval for a measure sponsored by Sen. and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco (D-Bergen/Hudson) that will enable municipalities to use their libraries’ surpluses.
If Governor Christopher Christie approves the bill, a free municipal library would be required to give any surplus that exceeds 20 percent of its operating budget from the previous year back to the municipality that is resides in, excluding funds for capital improvements or grants.
Libraries with a surplus of 20 percent or less would not have to contribute funds.
“Many libraries are holding an enormous surplus, a good deal of which came from the municipality to begin with,” said Sacco. “Given the fact that many municipalities are now struggling due to a loss in revenue and state aid brought on by the recession, this bill will allow one healthy partner in the community to help out the struggling partner. Ultimately, this measure will help provide relief for property taxpayers while still protecting municipal libraries that are not as financially stable as others.”
The bill, A-2911 (S-2070), is intended to provide tax relief for municipalities under the state-mandated property tax levy cap, said Sacco.
The Senate approved the bill by a vote of 24 – 11, while the Assembly approved the bill by a vote of 49-25-4.