Council Looks to Zero in on Budget

The magic number is zero. At least that's the West Orange Township Council's goal for any increase in this year's municipal budget.

To accomplish the task, the township will receive a $2 million payment from Crown Castle International, an independent owner and operator of wireless infrastructure, for the right to the leases of two of the four cell towers in West Orange. The company purchased the revenue stream from the township for the carriers on those towers, which include AT&T, Verizon, OmniPoint, Sprint Spectrum and Nextel.

Outgoing Mayor John McKeon said this 10-year lease agreement will allow West Orange to continue a six-year streak, under his leadership, with no annual increases in the municipal budget. He stressed that municipal expenses, such as public works, parks and recreation, fire and police, are about 30 percent of resident's total property tax bill, while 60 percent is for the board of education and the other 10 percent goes to the county. (County officials announced Tuesday that they are seeking a 2.85 percent tax increase to fund county programs.) The board of education is an increase of 6.23 percent.

"Because of the extraordinary year this was... the budget wasn't proposed until May because of uncertainties in state aid," he said. "So, we ended up losing more than $1 million or 100 percent of aid from the state."

McKeon said the township's four cell towers are on public land and companies pay rent for carriers to use a spot on the towers. That rent brings in about $400,000 a year to the township, he said.

Council President Susan McCartney and McKeon said bridging this year's budget gap wasn't easy, but the towers' lease allows the township to accomplish this task. 

"We understand there's an economic crisis," McCartney said at Tuesday's meeting. "But I'm pleased to submit a zero budget."

Some residents, however, said zero isn't good enough.

"We can't afford to write any more checks," Rosary Morelli told the council, citing Sunday's New York Times article on property tax increases in West Orange.

The 79-year-old township resident, who said she's on a fixed income, said she won't be able to sell her house or pay taxes.

"They (the council) have to follow the private sector," she said. "Labor costs are too high and we all have to bite the bullet."

Councilman Sal Anderton said the council has worked for several months to obtain this zero goal.

"I'm confident that we can achieve a zero," he said. "And looking toward next year, it will be even better."

John Sayers, the township's business administrator and police director, said West Orange will benefit greatly from the cell tower lease and the zero municipal budget.

He said the cell towers have empty slots that potential carriers can use. As a result, he said the township would collect 50 percent of the revenue used by carriers in those tower slots.

"We're doing the best we can do to keep the tax rate affordable," Sayers said. "We want to be as efficient as possible."

Brian Goldberg, one of five West Orange residents placed on the council's advisory committee that's charged with analyzing the budget and giving suggestions, said he wasn't satisfied with the zero-percent increase because the municipal budget is only a fraction of the overall budget.

"In today's economy, you can cut salaries and keep services," he said. "But that requires political will that the council doesn't have."

The council plans to vote on the budget at its July 20 meeting.