Facing residents irate about their increasing tax burden and an estimated $80 million municipal budget deficit, Jersey City officials are searching for ways to get the cost of government under control.
Their boldest proposal is to shift from a fiscal year to calendar year budget cycle, which they say would allow more time to make cuts in municipal government for next year. To do this, they would have to adopt a $255 million transition year budget by this October to pay for city operations for the final six months of 2010.
To fund this budget, they have already approved a $97.15 million levy on taxpayers which will add about $20 per tax quarter to the typical resident’s tax bill. Among cost-saving initiatives, they have implemented furloughs for city employees with an expected savings of over $1 million, and closed down the police department’s academy to save an additional $2 million.
That’s $3 million in savings. But are there other revenues or cuts that will allow the city to fill the gaping deficit remaining in financially troubled times?
The city is implementing furloughs for city employees with an expected savings of over $1 million.
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But Downtown Jersey City residents, living within shouting distance of City Hall, think they have some answers.
Deal with redundancies
Warren Curtin is a realtor with over 20 years of experience who lives near Hamilton Park.
Curtin believes the city’s problematic financial situation can be solved if one word is taken into consideration – redundancy.
“As far as the economic crises the cities and states are facing, I feel it is the greatest opportunity to make our government more efficient and responsive to its citizens,” Curtin said. “If an independent audit was done, as was done in Hoboken of their police department, states and cities and municipalities would identify redundancy in the function of each department and the redundancy that is mandated by ordinances, and then we would trim the cost and improve the efficiency.”
The audit done of the Hoboken police department by the state’s Department of Community Affairs in February recommended a 30 percent decrease in uniformed personnel, among other things.
Curtin added, “It might even allow us to bring in the technology to give access to the public for information and to do many of the functions citizens have to go to City Hall to accomplish.”
Revenues flowing in like water
Roberto Cruz is a lifelong Downtown resident who works as a certified public accountant.
Cruz said the city should look at enforcing user fees for large residential buildings for water and sewer hookups. Cruz recalled during the administration of former Mayor Bret Schundler that the city produced, during one year, $10 million from charging $10 per unit per month. Cruz claims that the fees were in existence only for a year.
Cruz also said monies could be further generated from big buildings as a matter of security.
“If they are building buildings that high, [developers] should pay a one-time fee equal to a rookie police officer’s salary since the police patrol the area of the building,” Cruz said. “That would go toward the budget, since much of our budget is for paying police.”
A Jersey City police officer in his rookie year earns $46,903 as of Sept. 2009. In the fiscal year 2010 budget ending on June 30, the amount set aside for police expenditures was $95.9 million, or approximately 19 percent of the entire $511 million municipal budget.
Not there – still pay
Dr. Richard Winant lives in downtown’s Paulus Hook section with his wife, Dorcey. He is the Director of Libraries for the Medical Research Library of Brooklyn, part of the State University of New York.
Winant offered several suggestions on how the city could deal with their financial difficulties.
While not a fan of more taxation, Winant proposed that the city should tax properties approved for development based on what will be built there rather than as just an empty lot.
“It’s like Monopoly, when you land on a property and there is a hotel or some houses, you have to pay more in rent,” Winant said.
Winant also said the city should look at refinancing its debt. As of this year, the city’s bond indebtedness has topped $783 million.
How do you feel about the effort the mayor and council are making to reduce taxes and control costs? To have your say, go to www.hudsonreporter.com and cast your vote in the online version of this story.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.
(Poll closes Friday, Sept. 3.)