The Issues RiverDell Is Facing Going Into 2012

As River Edge and Oradell residents are heading into a new year, there are several lingering issues that promise to top headlines in 2012. Based on the past year’s trends, and pending circumstances at the end of December, these are the Patch picks for the top issues (in no particular order) that residents from both boroughs will continue to talk about after the ball drops on Sunday.

Police Overtime

Averaging , the is moving closer to hiring two new patrol officers. The Mayor and Council completed interviewing the final five candidates this past week. Over the summer, Police Chief Tom Cariddi told the council that if the borough hired one patrolman that could offset the overtime costs for the 2012 budget.

The began in September following a new agreement with Local PBA 201 the starting salary for a patrol officer would be $27,775 but once benefits are added it comes to $44,285 per officer. Between retirements and promotions, the department is down four officers from full strength.

Initially the borough of Oradell and its' police department was to hire new officers but with the recent promotion of , a decision was made to for two patrol positions to back-fill the underfilled department in October. The , much like the REPD is down by four officers from full strength.

Both boroughs could see additional officers on the force sometime in early 2012.

Town and Municipal Budgets

Rising taxes in Bergen County has been an issue for the past few years in both towns and 2012 won't be very different as residents wallets will be hit with a municipal levy, elementary school levy and the regional school levy.

While each of the budgets are restricted by the 2% tax levy cap, only the school budgets are held to a hard cap, meaning that no matter the circumstance, the levy can not exceed a 2% increase. Municipal budgets are allowed to exclude the following from the levy cap: debt services, capital expenditures, pension cost, health benefit cost and declared emergencies.

For 2011, River Edge taxpayers saw a  for the municipal budget, a  for the K-6 school district budget and a $174 increase as part of the . Across the border, Oradell taxpayers were hit with increases for the municipal budget  and  for the K-6 school budget, but got a break with a $111 decrease on the .

The River Edge School district will be the first to present their preliminary budget on Jan. 28. School budget elections will be held on April 17.

Superintendent Search/ Contract Resolution

The new year will begin to bring a close to Interim Superintendent Dr. Maria Nuccetelli's two-year limit with the K-6 school district. The former Wayne superintendent came to Oradell in April 2010 following the resignation of prior schools chief Jeffrey Mohre. At the same time, the will also begin looking for a new Business Administrator as Rita Cioppi's takes effect at the end of the school year.

A job ad for the OPS Business Administrator has already been posted with the superintendent's ad to follow following the new year. Both positions will need to be filled before the start of the 2012-13 school year. 

With no contract in place since , the Oradell Education Assocation and Board of Education are still at an impasse with finalizing negotions. Both parties were supposed to meet with a state mediator but was to the point that faculty members were outside of the school buidling during the fall. 

The main sticking point has been that the faculty at Oradell earn less then their County-wide counterparts and even neighboring districts River Edge and River Dell. According to the 2010 NJ State Report Card data, the median salary for a teacher in Oradell is $50,960. Teachers in River Edge can earn on average $59,343 while in River Dell Regional, the median salary is $73,608.

Did we miss the issue you are most concerned with? Let us know what you think will be a big deal in 2012 in the comments.