2008-09-20 Mayor Revises Ewing Budget

Mayor revises Ewing budget $2.2M cut from 2009 spending plan to keep tax rate flat Saturday, September 20, 2008 BY ROBERT STERN EWING -- Mayor Jack Ball wants to freeze the municipal tax rate at its current level under a revised 2009 budget proposal that would slash about $2.2 million from the original spending plan unveiled by his administration on Sept. 8. In dollar terms, fire protection and prevention services would face the deepest funding cuts as a result of the overhaul to the proposed budget, which would keep the municipal tax rate flat at 91 cents per $100 of assessed value. The fire companies would get $216,000 less than initially proposed; the uniform fire prevention budget would be slashed by $163,000 to just $2,000; and spending on the water lines that supply the township's hydrants would be reduced by $350,000 from the $500,000 initially proposed. The revised $43.59 million draft budget also strikes out all three new posts Ball had planned in the less austere version and could mean that at least some vacant positions on Ewing's payroll will not be filled, the mayor said. "I've instructed my administration to take the knife to that (initially presented $45.86 million) budget and cut it," Ball said. The changes are meant to spare the taxpayers from facing what could have been a 21-cent increase in the tax rate under the heftier budget he presented to the council almost two weeks ago. They also are intended to ensure that Ewing doesn't turn to the state again, as it did before he was elected, for the type of extreme financial intervention under which township government surrenders some local administrative control to the state in exchange for special aid, Ball said. "I am not going to have the state of New Jersey basically looking over my shoulder and trying to run Ewing Township," he said. "We tightened the belt across the board for me to do what's right for the taxpayers," Ball said. He added, however, that he hopes the council will work with him to try to restore some of the proposed spending reductions by applying for extraordinary municipal aid from the state that doesn't come with onerous oversight conditions.

Council President Bert Steinmann said the council wants to work out a responsible budget that puts the taxpayers first but expressed reservations about how achievable the mayor's plan is. "They had months and months to prepare the original document and come up with millions of dollars in tax increases," Steinmann said. "Now, lo and behold ... days later we hear at a mayor's forum that he's proposing a zero (tax) increase budget. "I think at the end of the day, we can restore some funds and we'll have a more realistic budget," Steinman said. But he said it's his understanding that Ewing won't qualify for extraordinary state aid if it doesn't increase taxes at all. Both the revised and initial versions of the proposed 2009 budget are millions of dollars less than the $48.8 million budget the township adopted for this year. But under the revised proposal, the amount to be raised by taxes, which originally had been slated to increase by almost $4 million, remains unchanged from the $16.49 million levy set for the current fiscal year. The revised budget proposal anticipates about $1.68 million more in nontax revenue than had been presented in the original version. That includes $1 million more arising from the outcome of a tax appeal and $765,600 more than initially anticipated from the auction of township property. Details about those line items were not available yesterday. On the appropriations side, Ball said, "there's no question that the changes in this budget will come with some pain." Aside from less money for fire services, other reductions from the initial proposal include $215,000 from salary adjustments, $150,000 from administration, about $98,000 from health and human services and about $117,000 from insurance appropriations. Despite the widespread reductions, not every department faces the funding ax as a result of the revisions. The big winner would be the police department, which received a $475,000 boost in proposed funding over the $8.22 million the earlier budget plan called for. The public works department also gained $66,536 in proposed allocations.

Ball said the administration anticipates that the budget will be discussed during Monday's agenda meeting of the township council and hopes for its introduction the following night. "Council already has it, and we did post it on (Ewing's) website," he said. Staff writer Lisa Coryell contributed to this report. Contact Robert Stern at [email protected] or (609) 989-5731.