Council takes new vote on temporary spending

EAST BRUNSWICK - The Township Council has again voted on a resolution authorizing temporary appropriations for this year's budget.

The council first voted on the measure during a meeting last month, but Councilman David Stahl raised questions about whether the timing was appropriate. Stahl said he found that a state statute requires that temporary appropriations only be voted on during the year they are intended for.

The council apparently agreed, and unanimously voted in favor of the resolution during Monday night's meeting.

The vote means the administration can spend up to 26.25 percent of last year's municipal budget to begin paying for this year's costs. That approval is needed now because the actual 2007 budget may not be approved until the summer. Without a temporary appropriation, the township would not be able to pay its bills.

Stahl noted that because the resolution was passed before 2007, it wasn't binding.

When council members received their packets Friday for Monday's meeting, it included a two-page explanation from Township Attorney Michael Baker and Business Administrator James White about why the resolution was on the agenda in December. They mentioned that, in the past, the council approved the measure in December, and the state never voiced a problem because many governing bodies do the same thing.

Stahl had argued that approving the spending in December was not only against state law, but also unfair because a given town council could have different members when the new year begins. He was also concerned because the new year's budget will be especially difficult because of a tighter state cap.

- Vincent Todaro