Meet The Candidates: What Is Mahwah's Biggest Financial Challenge?

MAHWAH, N.J. — Editor's note: The following is the third in a six-part series regarding this year's mayoral candidates: Incumbent William Laforet and challengers John Roth and Jonathan Wong. Each candidate was asked six questions and wrote as much as they wanted in response to those questions. Patch is running the candidates' responses to each question for six consecutive days.

Question: What is the Township’s biggest financial challenge and how will you address it?

William Laforet, incumbent

The pending New Jersey Supreme Court affordable housing litigation affects every community in the state, including Mahwah. As the mayor for the last five years, I have appointed the very best legal professionals and planners from across the state and this is where it pays dividends.

We will exhaust every resource to see that the courts recognize that we have done our fair share by building over 600 affordable units over the past 25 years. By comparison, other communities had done little or nothing. We have a good case and will pursue it to its conclusion.

John Roth, challenger

The single largest issue financial facing Mahwah is taxes. How government manages the costs of services delivered (taxes) directly affects the lives of residents and the quality of their lives on many levels.

Taxes are determined by two key factors; revenue and expenses. Non-tax revenues are fairly predictable and difficult to increase without imposing new fees or raising existing ones. That is undesirable and counterintuitive to holding costs to residents down.

The key to managing the tax rate is prudent spending, holding the line on expenses and ensuring that every dollar spent is necessary and of benefit to the taxpayer. For 12 years on the council I have been an ardent cost cutter. Over $5 million dollars was taken out of annual budgets by me during that period. In the last four years my proposals reduced each of the mayor’s tax increases from an average of 4 percent to 2.9 percent. Last year I cut his tax increase 55 percent.

Managing expenses without cutting services requires a thorough knowledge of everything we buy to make this town run properly. I have that knowledge and will use it as mayor to make certain that future budgets fund only must-have expenses versus nice-to-have ones.

Jonathan Wong, challenger

The biggest financial challenge is maintaining a stable tax rate.

This is difficult to do because the demand for public services increase each year and costs continue to rise with inflation and population growth. We can maintain stable taxes by focusing on three strategies: Through rigorous oversight of the budget and budget process, expanding the town’s ratable base, and securing more of our tax dollars back from the County.

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