Township Committee Candidates: Martin Lisella

Township Committee elections are approaching, and Barnegat Patch is turning the focus on the candidates. Below, you'll find our pre-election story on incumbent Republican Marty Lisella, who answered several questions Patch readers wanted to see the candidates address.

You can also look back at our story on Republican , independent and incumbent . Keep reading today for our final profile on Democrat Mike Howard.

• Candidate name: Martin Lisella
• Address: 4 Dovetree Court
• Party: Republican
• Occupation: Real estate broker, manager of Van Dyke agency in Barnegat
• Previous government experience: Has served one previous term on the Barnegat Township Committee

Marty Lisella is the Republican incumbent in this year's race for two open seats on the committee. Lisella has made what he calls Barnegat's flawed tax assessment process a major issue in recent months, voting down the 2011 budget in protest, he said, of an unfair distribution of the township's tax burden. He said he believes the township is cutting where it can and will continue to do so, with extra focus on savings through shared services.

Obviously, taxes are issue number one for a lot of people. Can you offer up some specific ideas for cutting taxes, including, but not limited to, cuts you would make in municipal spending?

“One is to minimize tax appeals,” Lisella said. “The appeals are costing us a great deal of money every year and until we correct that, we’re never going to be able to cut taxes.”

Lisella said the committee looks very carefully at each department, looking for spending cuts, but the township can’t make sweeping staffing cuts quickly because it’s bound by standing contracts. 

“We cannot make knee-jerk decisions that could cost us in lawsuits,” he said.

“We’re not done cutting in town hall,” he said, but he does not intend to cut services that residents want and need. “Whatever anyone says, the majority of citizens still want a clean, safe environment to live in,” Lisella said.

Did you approve of the 2011 municipal budget? If not, what specifically would you have changed?

Lisella said his no vote on the budget was “in protest to the assessment system in our town,” a system he said was flawed and led to an inconsistent assessment of property values and thus an unequal distribution of Barnegat’s tax burden, on top of costly tax appeals.

“If we could have eliminated those problems that we had over two years that cost us $2 million, we could have worked with a leaner budget,” he said. “I don’t think anyone in town would balk at paying their fair share of taxes as long as they know their neighbors are paying a fair share as well.”

Assessments aside, Lisella said he didn’t think the committee did a bad job with the 2011 budget.

 “We really cut it down pretty close,” Lisella said. “There are other things we’re looking at,” he said, but current contract negotiations meant he couldn’t go into detail.

“There are some areas that could be refined that we’re working on,” he said. “It’s not over yet. More shared services will streamline the budget in the future.” But many of the problems that push property taxes higher in New Jersey can’t be solved on a municipal level, he said.

“No one can expect a huge decrease in their property taxes as long as all the components in the system of the state of New Jersey that are currently in place stay in place,” said Lisella. “Until we change that, we’re not going to see a big decrease. All we can do is streamline the municipal budget as close to the bone as we can possibly work it, without taking away from critical services residents expect and deserve.”

One issue that readers have been asking everyone to weigh in on is salaries and benefits for elected officials. Do you, or would you, collect and keep a salary and medical benefits? What are your thoughts on those who say elected officials should not do so?

Lisella said he would continue to accept his committeeman’s salary and benefits. Serving on the committee is a time-consuming and demanding job, he said.

“My personal income since I’ve been elected has fluctuated 30 to 35 percent in a downward trend,” said Lisella. “Some of that is related to the economy, but a large part is because of the time and effort put into the township.”

The compensation offered to committee members is “well deserved and well earned,” he said.

Accessibility and transparency are also important topics for a lot of people. Do you, or would you, make a point to personally respond to calls and emails from residents? What do you think can be done to increase the level of communication between residents and officials, and make township matters more transparent?

Lisella said he responds to all personal emails and phone calls in as timely a manner as possible. Most calls get forwarded to his office, he said, and he makes a point to answer or call back.

He said he’s had calls from people angry over a problem or struggling to understand an issue. “We try to solve their problems as quickly as we can,” he said.

Lisella said he thinks Barnegat does a good job of keeping its government transparent.

“The books in town hall are open,” he said. “People OPRA everything under the sun.”

He said he supports the idea of getting input from residents knowledgeable on various issues, even if the township can’t take their advice on everything. But when it comes to holding open forums to discuss the construction of the budget, he said he’s torn.

“It depends who would be sitting down at those meetings,” said Lisella. Allowing a budget workshop to turn into a place where people attack committee members wouldn’t be productive, he said, “and I don’t know how to limit it to the people who would be more constructive.”

What else is important to you as a candidate?

“My first term is coming to an end,” Lisella said, and he learned a lot about how to run the town in his first three years on the dais. Now, he said, he wants to apply that experience to another term.

“I’ve accomplished a lot, but there are a couple more projects I want to get involved with. There are more shared services opportunities. There’s a little bit more streamlining we could do. I want to make Barnegat a town people want to move to, where they can get a fair share for their dollar.”