New Budget Raises Concerns for Some Residents

The borough Board of Commissioners approved the $13.9 million municipal budget Tuesday during a regular meeting, but not before several residents had their say.

Residents complained about cuts in public works, which has reduced services, including the elimination of a children’s summer recreation program and cuts in senior services.

“We’ve got 23 police officers but only eight public works employees,” Joe Haro, a borough resident complained during a public hearing on the budget. “I don’t see how we can get along with only eight employees in public works.”

The new budget eliminates part-time seasonal employees, used mainly for leaf collection in the fall. The reduction means only three cycles of leaf collection instead of the usual six. Four public works employees were also lost when the borough hired a private trash hauler.

“I’ve gotten more calls about this than I have in 25 years as a commissioner,” Mayor Tish Colombi told Haro and about a dozen others, mostly parents with fourth-grade students fulfilling a school requirement to attend the meeting. “People are upset about this.”

Colombi said public works once had nearly 30 employees. 

Two other commissioners, Ed Borden and Jeff Kasko, repeatedly stressed that a state-mandated 2-percent cap on spending increases led to cuts in popular programs like summer recreation and arts programs for seniors. The art program was cut entirely from the budget but won a last-minute reprieve. Now, a paired-back program will continue at the Mabel Kay Senior Center, but some other programs will be reduced to pay for it.

Despite austerity, one section of the budget grew by 76 percent: legal costs. The new budget includes $256,200 for legal costs, a $111,200 increase from last year. The line item comes under the Department of Public Safety, which is overseen by Borden. He said the increase is largely due to the costs of site planners for the anticipated redevelopment of the 18.7-acre Bancroft property. 

Borden has previously said planning costs for Bancroft will be included in the sale price of the property for a developer. The commissioners also have approved $225,000 in the last two budgets for the installation of parking kiosks for more than half of the borough’s 972 parking spaces. Officials said the kiosks, which will replace meters, will generate more revenue and costs less to collect proceeds and maintain.

That was still not an attractive selling point for another resident, Betty Phillips.

“I don’t like the kiosks,” she said during the meeting. “They’re not at all lovely. I’m not looking forward to going halfway down the block to use one in the ice and snow.”

The new budget includes a 2-percent increase in the local tax rate, boosting it to 44¢ per $100 of assessed property value. That means the typical borough homeowner with a property assessed at the average of $491,359 will pay $2,165 in taxes for the municipal government, a $86 increase. 

The typical tax bill in Haddonfield is about $12,000, with about 60 percent going to school costs. The borough tax is about 17 percent of the Haddonfield property tax bill and the remainder is for county taxes.

The commissioners also approved the Business Improvement District Tax rate and budget for 2011. Schedule A has a rate of 12¢ per $100 of assessed property value of a business and Schedule B has a rate of 6¢, according to borough Administrator Sharon McCullough. The difference in the rates is determined by the value of the business.

That tax includes funds for the Partnership for Haddonfield, which promotes local business.

In other business, the commissioners also unanimously approved a three-year contract for Police Chief John Banning, who was appointed to the position one-and-a-half years ago. Banning is currently paid $113,000 annually and will make $119,000 as of January of next year.

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