Budget Preview: Department Budgets May Yield Better News For The Township

The Verona Council chamber was crowded Tuesday night at a special budget review committee and council workshop meeting, where department heads presented mostly-flat budget projections as the 2011 budget deadline draws near.

Though the 2011 municipal budget is not yet complete, Township Manager Joseph Martin said that, under the state mandated municipal budget increase cap of 2 percent, Verona's budget increase will be close to zero. The contractually obligated increases in wages and benefits for township employees will increase, but it is too early to tell what the amount will be, and the per-household tax impact is not yet known.

Five department heads presented a recap of their past year’s activity along with a preview of what they expect in the coming year, including their budget requests for 2011.

The presenters were Chief Doug Huber and Captain Mitchell Stern of the Verona Police Department; Code Enforcement and Building Inspection Director, Tom Jacobsen; Buildings and Grounds Director, Len Waterman; and Library Director, Jim Thomas. The final presentation of the night was by Jeff Hayes, head of the Township’s Information Technology department. Hayes also heads the Office of Emergency Management.

In his opening remarks, Martin commented on the lack of consensus in the state legislature and lack of information regarding the amount of state aid available to municipalities. He also addressed the absence of a “tool kit” as promised by Gov. Chris Christie, to deal with rising costs affecting municipalities across the state. Martin said the township is "about half way" done with the 2011 budget.

The police department presentation included many facts and figures. There are 28 police officers, who handled over 12,500 calls and 170 adult arrests in 2010. The department is also responsible for 38 crossing guards. Chief Huber also called attention to an increase in drug related arrests, especially for oxycontin. To address this increase, last year, the Verona Police department established a working alliance with the police from Cedar Grove, Caldwell, West Caldwell, West Orange, Bloomfield, the Essex County Prosecutors Office and the DEA.

In addition to manpower costs, training costs affect the police budget as well. Stern highlighted the new use of technology to help the officers complete paperwork and take training through the use of in-car computers. This allows the officers to stay on the road and make use of their time using police vehicle computers instead of coming into the office to complete reports or attend training classes.

Regarding the budget for 2011, Huber pointed out that the services and operations portion of the budget can be reduced by $13,000. However, the contractual union obligations for wages and benefits will increase by $63,000.

The next presentation was made by Tom Jacobsen, head of the Code Enforcement and Building Inspection Department. Jacobsen announced an increase of revenues by 21 percent in 2010. The department issued 824 permits, including those for the Highlands at Hilltop. The Highlands consists of 95 luxury rental units, of which 100 percent are rented, with 130 new units to be constructed on the property at the top of the new White Rock Road. These will add to the department revenue for 2011 as well.

A shared services agreement with Roseland will also generate revenue for Jacobsen’s department. The agreement is for the Building Inspection Department to provide inspection service for fire, plumbing and electrical issues in the neighboring borough. Jacobsen concluded. “For the second year in a row, there will be no budget increase for the department.”

Buildings and Grounds Director, Len Waterman was the third presenter of the evening. The department is responsible for the care and maintenance of ten Township buildings, all playing fields, and the Community Pool. Waterman and his five, full-time employees also provide many renovation projects, including the complete renovation of Council Chambers and many offices in the Town Hall. Waterman added, “The biggest project we had was the slide at the pool. It came with a piece of paper and 50,000 bolts and nothing could be off by more the an half inch.” Waterman said that it saved the Township $70,000 to $80,000 by having Township employees install it. The renovations at the Community Center and the Library basement meeting room were also completed by Waterman’s crew. The Buildings and Grounds budget is not expected to increase.

The next presenter was Library Director, Jim Thomas who started his portion by announcing the recent completion of a joint project with Cedar Grove, digitizing all the microfilm of the Verona Cedar Grove Times. By using the public access computers in the library, a researcher can locate, pull up and print an article. Thomas emphasized the importance of technology at the library. The library website provides information including the ability to search the entire card catalog and databases and reserve books.

Thomas noted that the library gets 45,000 to 50,000 visits per year and they are open seven days a week, 63 hours each week, more than many neighboring libraries. Martin explained, “Many townships are looking at library [budget] surplus to move over to town budgets but that’s not an issue in Verona.”

Thomas advised that the library has about 60,000 volumes in its collection and will probably spend $55,000 on books and material in 2011, the same as 2010.

The final presentation of the night was by Jeff Hayes, head of the Township’s Information Technology. Hayes’ department of two people includes himself and Michael McCormick. Together they are responsible for networking all the Township department computers, servers, storage, towers, telephones, cell phones and data lines, two-way radio systems, security and backup, police car technology, and systems monitoring. Hayes asserted, “Verona is a trend setter, other towns come over to see what Verona is doing.” Hayes says the township's I.T. budget will have no increase.

On Thursday, March 24, the Budget Review Committee will meet with the Department of Public Works and Sewer and Water Department.