Howell Council Looks To Cut $900K From Budget; Councilman Suggests Dispatch Plan Be Revived

HOWELL, NJ — The Howell Township Council is looking to cut roughly $900,000 from 2017 municipal budget, after angry residents packed Tuesday night's council meeting demanding action on "out of control" taxes.

The council was scheduled to vote on a resolution to adopt the budget, which included a 4.6 percent increase in the municipal tax levy. But when it came time to vote on it, none of the council members would offer a motion to bring the budget adoption to a vote.

That inaction came after more than two hours of complaints from residents and discussion and debate among the mayor and council about what to do to achieve cuts to avoid any increase in the municipal tax levy.

"You're proposing a 4.6 percent increase (in the tax levy) on top of 7.8 percent in the last two years," one resident said. "We want flat spending."

"I have no problem saying cut a million dollars," Councilman Robert Walsh said. "There's going to be some pain."

Under state law, municipalities have until April 21 (or their next regularly scheduled meeting) to adopt a budget, according to the state Divsion of Local Government Services. Municipal Clerk Penny Wollman told Mayor Theresa Berger and the council members present — Deputy Mayor Robert Nicastro, Councilwoman Evelyn O'Donnell and Walsh — that they could potentially get the budget adopted by the end of May and avoid issues with the state. Councilwoman Pauline Smith was absent.

Where the cuts will from is anyone's guess, as it was clear from the meeting there is no consensus among Berger and the council on what should be done.

One possible cut that generated some discussion was a suggestion by Walsh that the township again look at transferring its emergency dispatch services to Monmouth County. The township considered the move two years ago, but in the face of protests from residents and the township's dispatchers, scrapped the move.

"That would have saved us $600,000," Walsh said, though a figure of $400,000 was mentioned during later discussion of the possible move, due to the need to pay unemployment to employees who would be laid off as a result.

The discussion also made obvious the conflict between Berger and Walsh and Nicastro. Walsh suggested the responsibility for the cuts should lie with Berger, who rejected that notion.

"This isn't just my decision," she said. "It's the entire governing body." Berger also expressed frustration over a lack of response to possible cuts she had suggested. "I made $600,000 in recommendations. They were discounted," she said, to which Nicastro replied "They weren't discounted; they were inaccurate."

Berger did not have her suggested cuts at her fingertips Tuesday night, but Walsh criticized them as "nickel-and-diming" the township's departments. Nicastro did not elaborate on his statement that they were inaccurate.

"I don't know where we're going to come up with $900,000," Walsh said. "I'll cut departments. It doesn't faze me. In 2009 (when he was mayor) I had to furlough the whole town."

O'Donnell rejected that outright. "I'm not cutting any department. That's irresponsible," she said.

The decision to not act on the budget came at the end of a meeting that began very contentiously. Residents, many of them from the Equestra adult community, packed the council chamber to voice their displeasure over the proposed tax increase.

"Get those pencils sharp and trim them down," one man said. "Get these taxes under control."

Berger and Walsh repeatedly pointed out to the residents that the municipal portion of property taxes accounts for 16.7 percent of the residents' tax bills, with taxes to the Howell school district and the Freehold Regional High School district accounting for the bulk of the property taxes.

That prompted demands from some residents for the council to slash the schools' budgets as well, to which Walsh pointed out the council has no say over the school budgets. A law passed early in Gov. Chris Christie's first term allowed school districts to avoid seeking voter approval of school budgets if the district kept the budget increase within a 2 perent cap. The Howell Township School District budget hearing is Wednesday night (tonight) at 7 p.m. in the cafetorium at Howell Middle School North, 501 Squankum Yellowbrook Road.

The Equestra residents also complained that they felt they were being targeted for the increases, though Berger pointed out that the increases in property taxes are happening to the entire town.

"All of us up here are facing tax increases," Berger said, "and none of us live in Equestra. It's happening all over."

By the time the council chose not to act on the budget, only a handful of residents remained. One man spoke during the latter public hearing on the budget said he is tired of seeing services cut in the town.

"My streets are falling apart. I have to wait three weeks for a bulk (garbage) pickup. And you're doing our social activities on the cheap," he said, pointing out that he and his family attend a number of events in neighboring towns, from chili cookoffs to cruise nights to concerts. "Make reasonable, responsible cuts."

A tentative meeting date of Tuesday, April 25, was discussed but not finalized as Berger said she is awaiting a date for surgery on a broken leg.

Photo by Karen Wall