Municipal Departments Seek Promotions, New Hires and Capital Requests for Next Budget Cycle

Municipal department heads presented their proposed operational budgets including promotions, new hires and capital requests to the township committee at the first budget workshop meeting of the year.

“I commend our department heads for last year,” Committeewoman Helen DelaCruz said. “They did more with less…This year, in my opinion, the requests are enormous. I don’t think we’re out of the recession yet.”

Prior to directing questions to department heads regarding particular line items and capital projects, she asked them to do the “bare minimum,” similar to last year. “It’s very difficult to go and appropriate for money that we don’t have.”

Mayor Mark Dykoff noted that there weren’t any significant increases on department line items.

While some budgets remained stable, others fluctuated but promotions, new hires and capital requests were eye-catching. Township Administrator called those items a “planning tool to meet the goals and objectives of this community” and the department heads know their requests may be turned down.

“I think we all agree, all these budgets are bare, bare budgets,” Committeeman Gary Quinn said. “We cut them down the last few years to the point where departments are running out of paper clips by the end of the year. I don’t think there’s any ability for the governing body to cut that.”

Promotions and New Hires

The tax collectors office is seeking several promotions for employees, Sharon Sulecki said.

“My staff has been doing an excellent job,” she explained. “They’ve taken on jobs above their grade level. They embraced them and have done very well.”

The department has been operating with two less people, she said.

Many of the municipal departments have lost employees over the years and have yet to backfill the positions.

“We haven’t requested any new hires, although we have lost some people,” said John Curtin, Director of Community Development.

Casey Parker of Public Works asked for clerical and truck driver promotions while Police Chief William Nally is hoping for four new officers to begin by July 1.

Parker said the Public Works department lost 12 employees that haven’t been replaced.

Since 2008, the police department is down six officers and he expects two more to retire this year, Nally said.

“The department needs to be brought back at some point,” he said.

Although the department is functioning, it will become more difficult overtime, he said.

If the township were to hire new officers by July, the department wouldn’t see them on the road until 2013, he said.

“We need to really start thinking forward,” Nally said. “We could be down to 32 officers before we know it."

Nally also asked the township to replace clerical staff and proposed hiring two new dispatchers.

Capital Requests

Parker provided the committee with a “wish list” of 22 improvement projects from reconfiguring the top end of Laurel Boulevard and storm water repairs at Bayberry Village to the demolition of the former nursing home and restructuring of Hebrew Park.

“The actual result of doing an improvement project is priceless,” he said reflecting on the modifications made at Lake Barnegat Drive. “It’s definitely worth spending the money where it is needed.”

The township has applications pending with the state’s Department of Transportation to receive funding for projects.

“We can’t forget because the infrastructure because it just continues to disintegrate,” he said. “It doesn’t care about the economy.”

Parker is also requesting vehicle purchases including single axle dump trucks, a mason dump truck and portable jack posts.

“These trucks are vital to our day-to-day operations, 365-days of the year,” Parker said of the dump trucks. The fleet he currently uses dates back to 1987. “Everything is extremely expensive but it’s something we definitely need.”

As for capital requests for the police department, Nally asked for new squad room flooring at $6,000, security fencing for privacy behind the police department, AR15 rifles and four four-wheel drive vehicles.

The department’s entire fleet is aging, he said. Approximately 20 cars are eight to 10 years old and have more than 120,000 miles on them.

Many of the vehicles sitting in the lot are used solely for parts at this point, he said.

“The car fleet is much smaller than it was,” he said. “It doesn’t cost anymore money to keep them back there.

New vehicles would cost approximately $27,000 as part of a police package that is state contracted, Nally said.

“I have a major concern moving forward that we’re not doing anything with the infrastructure of this town and that we’re not trying to replace some of the equipment that is literally falling apart,” Quinn said.

What’s next with the budget?

The proposed department budgets, including the promotions, new hires and capital requests, will be taken into consideration and prioritized by the township committee.

Chief Financial Officer Adrian Fanning explained that any monies left over in department budgets from last year is reverted in the surplus for the following year.

“A lot of times people bring up zero-based budgeting and essentially that is what we do,” Dykoff said. “As we look through the bills every week…we don’t make half hazardous expenditures.”

In addition to a municipal budget, the township is being reviewed by the state this year, Fanning said. Every few years, the township is required to submit a six-year capital budget as a “planning tool.”

The township will have $21,700,000 in revenue for the 2012-13 budget and $2.8 million in surplus, of which $2.4 million is available to be used, Fanning previously said. State aid was maintained at $11,273,840.

Members of the committee have met with the Board of Education, who agreed to help offset the costs for crossing guards once again.

The school board was “very receptive” in negotiating shared services, Committeeman David Most said. More will be discussed moving forward.

There will be a second budget workshop meeting with emergency services on Thursday, March 29 at 7 p.m.