Matawan: Aid is not going to be enough ALYSSA PASSEGGIO, Senior Staff Writer, The Courier, July 17 Posted:07/20/08
Matawan Borough was one of the few towns lucky enough to receive extraordinary aid from the state this year, but officials said that is not going to cut it.
Councilman and finance chairman Michael Cannon noted that the borough was awarded $200,000 in extraordinary aid, which was the amount initially lost during the municipal aid cuts earlier this year. Since a portion of the initial aid was restored, Matawan ended up with about $17,000 more than it expected, he said.
A tax point in the borough is about $103,000; therefore, the additional aid would reduce the tax rate about 2 cents, Cannon said. The money had to be used to offset the property taxes, he added.
"The tax rate increase will drop from 7 cents to 5 cents, but keep in mind that next year the budget will start with a 2 cent tax increase," Cannon explained.
Mayor Paul Buccellato explained the aid did not cover increases for come important budgetary items, particularly in the case of items that involved gas and oil..
As of July 9, not even halfway through the year, more than 50 percent of several line items have been spent, according to borough documents.
For example, 108 percent of the heating oil allotment, 72 percent of the natural gas funding, 71 percent of the gasoline account and 62 percent of the electricity appropriation were spent as of last week, borough documents said.
One suggestion that was resurrected at the meeting was a four-day workweek to save on building costs.
"I actually think we have no choice but to shut the building down three days a week," Cannon said. "The majority of heating oil for the borough is for this building."
Borough Administrator Fred Carr said borough employees would work 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a 45-minute lunch, rather than a regular eight-hour day, to make up the time difference from the closure. Weekend events or requests to open the building would have to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, Carr said.
Long-term savings were also suggested.
Councilman William Malley introduced the idea for the borough engineer to prepare an estimate regarding the switch from oil to gas in borough hall. Malley said the savings could be worth the expenditure in the long-run and insisted the governing body at least look into the switch soon in order to move things along.
Buccellato also noted the possibility of joint electric with other towns in the area through a company that made a presentation to the governing body during a workshop meeting. Officials directed Carr to forward the company the necessary information to sort out how much the borough could save with the program.
Officials also discussed changes to the borough employee health insurance program, as that account has also been overspent so far.
Carr noted that the borough has been on a complete freeze with only necessary items appearing on the bill lists.
Buccellato pointed out that the council borrowed $125,000 from this year's budget last year, which he said has to be addressed.
"The budget needs to be addressed sooner than later," Buccellato concluded. "I am looking for some heavy-duty action, now."
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