Stahl: Too much $$ being spent, too soon
Councilman calls for blanket hiring freeze on municipal positions
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

David Stahl

EAST BRUNSWICK –– It’s never too early to start worrying about the next year’s budget.

But it can be too early to spend money for a budget year that has not yet arrived.

Such issues are at the forefront of an ongoing discussion between members of the Township Council and administration.

The council on Dec. 18 unanimously approved a resolution authorizing temporary appropriations for 2007. The move allows the administration to spend up to 26.25 percent of the 2006 municipal budget to pay for items that will be in the 2007 budget. That’s the only way to pay bills before the budget is formally adopted several months into the new year.

But what is usually a noncontentious issue became one when Councilman David Stahl expressed concern that the appropriation will back the council into a corner when budget decisions are made in 2007. And Stahl would later tell the Sentinel he believes the resolution was approved earlier than is allowed by law.

Stahl said during the meeting that the resolution gives the decision on how to spend more than a quarter of the 2007 budget entirely to the administration, not the council. And the more money that is spent means there are fewer areas for the council to cut from when its members do get around to a detailed budget analysis in the coming months, Stahl noted.

He told the Sentinel he wants the council to look at spending options before appropriating the 26.25 percent.

“Don’t spend it and come back to us and say we have no choice but to keep it in the budget because we already spent it,” he said.

“I’m uncomfortable going a quarter [of the year] in advance,” Stahl said during the meeting.

Mayor William Neary and the council were mostly quiet during the discussion, leaving the debate up to Stahl and Business Administrator James White.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the state cap on spending has become more stringent, with more budget items falling within the cap, Stahl noted. Cap items, which include contractual obligations, cannot rise more than 2.5 percent on the whole from the previous year’s municipal budget.

White noted that costs such as salaries, debt service and increased health payments count toward the cap, and he acknowledged that dealing with the cap will probably be tougher this year.

Stahl asked that a stringent hiring freeze be implemented, noting that some positions are currently vacant, and leaving them unfilled would give the council some flexibility when working on the budget.

But White said a blanket hiring freeze is a bad idea. He pointed to the position of police dispatcher as one that needs to be filled, because the overtime needed to fund that work would cost more than a beginning salary. He said he does not want township services to suffer.

Stahl countered that services may have to suffer if the township cannot fit its spending under the cap.

“Let’s debate it here first before it’s too late because we can’t fit it under the cap,” he said.

Stahl said a hiring freeze would spare precious room in the budget and thus possibly save a service or two.

White said the township actually has fewer employees than it did in the prior budget, and there are critical positions that need to be filled.

“[There are] others we could afford to hold off on,” he said.

Neary said every position is evaluated before being filled, as has been the case the entire time he’s been mayor.

One position just filled was that of manager of budget and human resources. A deputy municipal clerk post has not yet been filled, though.

Council President Nancy Pinkin said a budgetary cap discussion will be on the agenda for a January council meeting.

Stahl’s other concern is that a state statute governing when towns can authorize temporary appropriations says such a move cannot be made until the proper year has been reached. Stahl, who is an attorney, said he researched the statute and found the council passed the resolution before it was legally allowed to do so.

Stahl said he has asked White and Township Attorney Michael Baker for an explanation, feeling that perhaps there is another statute or regulation that would allow the council to make the move.

“I have not gotten any word from White or Baker whether we need a new resolution for 2007,” he said. “I question whether it’s a valid resolution.”

Stahl said he anticipates an explanation from the administration before the next council meeting, set for Jan. 8, or he’ll bring the issue up then.

The appropriation, by law, should have been done within 30 days after the New Year, he said.

“I found that this could only be done in the year it is for,” Stahl said “You do it for the fiscal year you’re working on.”

The council would be allowed to pass a resolution authorizing spending on debt payments, as long as it wasn’t passed more than 10 days prior to the New Year, he said.

“I just want to make sure we follow state statutes for the money for 2007,” he said. “I anxiously await hearing from White or Baker.”