Action on resolution and proposed ordinance introduction expected March 14.
By John Tredrea
Before an overflow crowd of more than 100 people, many of them township employees wearing union shirts, the Hopewell Township Committee voted unanimously Monday night to delay until next Monday a vote on a resolution under which six township employees, four of them full-timers, would be laid off.
Also put off until next Monday was a vote on introduction of an ordinance under which the position of lieutenant would be eliminated from the Hopewell Township Police Department and the hours of the tax collector and Board of Health secretary both would be cut from 35 to 25 hours a week. If introduced March 14, the proposed ordinance would have to be published prior to a subsequent meeting at which a public hearing would be held and adoption considered.
Adoption of that ordinance would cost Lts. Bruce Carnall and Frank Fechter, who both have over 30 years with the police force, their jobs. They each make $99,000 a year.
The employees who would be laid off if the aforementioned resolution is passed March 14 are two full-time Department of Public Works laborers, who make about $33,000 a year each; a full-time Department of Public Works secretary, who makes about the same amount; and a full-time maintenance and cable television coordinator, who makes $46,000.
The part-timers who would be laid off if the resolution passes are a geologic information specialist, who can make up to $17,000 a year, and the Historic Preservation Commission secretary, who makes $4,000.
"These items should be removed from the agenda and tabled for one week so we as a committee know we have taken every step necessary to ensure that this course of action is our only course of action," said Committeewoman Judy Niederer.
"As elected officials, we cannot sit here and shoulder the burden for mistakes and decisions that were made by previous governing bodies of Hopewell Township," Ms. Niederer said. "Decisions were made to spend your tax dollars on items that could be considered luxuries and now burden this present committee. Decisions were made that have impacted our legal budget, increasing it from $100,000 in 1999 to $468,000 in 2004.
"If this year’s proposed spending proposals are accepted, the Police Department alone will have seen an increase of over $1million in the past six years. This community cannot absorb these costs. Cuts are inevitable, but we must do everything to ensure that these cuts are fair," Ms. Niederer added.
Unless the $17.1 million proposed budget is cut, the township tax rate would to up an unprecedented 9 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
Referring to Lts. Carnall and Fechter, Ms. Niederer said: "I personally am not willing to compromise the 30-year careers of two decorated lieutenants, who have dedicated their lives to this community and our safety, because we have been backed into a corner to make these cuts. They must be fair."
After the committee agreed to postpone its decision, it took two hours of public comment. Several dozen people spoke, most of them adamantly opposed to the layoffs. Speakers included those whose jobs would be eliminated or cut to half-time, their fellow workers and residents.
Her voice breaking, Department of Public Works secretary Joy Arena, one of the employees in line to be laid off under the tabled resolution, implored the governing body to let her keep working. "I’m a widowed mother of three teenage boys," said Ms. Arena. "I’m happy with my job and I’d like to keep it. I’d appreciate anything the committee can do to help keep me on."
Township resident John Cibulskis, who lives in Brandon Farms, was one of many speakers to adamantly oppose reducing the size of the police force. "I would rather pay than be a victim," he said. "Our community is changing and it is growing. To reduce the police force is ludicrous" in the face of "robberies and vandalism in our southern tier and elsewhere in the township, drug abuse in our schools and elsewhere. This needs to be monitored and dealt with."
Several other residents made similar comments, including Lake Baldwin Drive resident Lucy Robson, who like other speakers also opposed Department of Public Works layoffs.
In line to lose their jobs along with Ms. Arena are two Department of Public Works laborers, who each make about $30,000 a year. "We’re getting more houses and less public works and police," Ms. Robson said. "It makes no sense." She criticized the committee for bringing up the issue of layoffs again it did several months ago, as well, during talks on whether to settle a Merrill Lynch lawsuit against the township out of court. "You are killing police morale. They will move on. Their jobs are at risk."
Like many of the other comments made during the public section, Ms. Robson’s were met with vigorous applause and cheering, as were those of township patrolman and president of the local police union, Chris Kascik, who said: "The population and level of activity in the township have exploded. Drive down Route 31 and you can see it. It’s not ‘Mayberry’ here anymore."
Stewart Schwab a lifelong Pennington resident, a longtime employee of the township’s Department of Public Works, and the first to speak Monday night got a thunderous roar of approval when he declared: "I do not feel the actions of past Township Committees should fall on the backs of working families."
Kim Cantwell, the township tax collector whose hours would be cut from 35to 25 hours a week under the proposed layoff measure, said: "We now have the highest rate of tax collection we have ever had." Ms. Cantwell said that success rate would be threatened if her hours were reduced. "If we don’t collect these taxes, your taxes are going to go up," she said.
Also speaking was Maintenance Coordinator Ray Lenz, who has been working for the township for 17 years and would lose his job under the proposed layoffs. A married man with several children, Mr. Lenz said: "I don’t think there’s a maintenance job here I haven’t done. I started here in 1988 at $7a hour." He said he would appreciate anything the committee could do to keep him on board and added that he routinely has had money left over in his budget each year as the staff under him has been progressively reduced. "I must be doing something right," he said quietly as he sat down.
Committeewoman Vanessa Sandom has said it is impossible to say how much the tax rate would go down if the layoffs were enacted, because of such unknowns as whether Lts. Carnall and Fechter would bump employees with less seniority. They would have to take a pay cut if they did so.
In addition, Ms. Sandom and township Chief Financial Officer Elaine Borges both said Tuesday that, due to issues including unused vacation time, it is impossible to estimate at this juncture how much the township will save if both lieutenants retire.
In a written statement Tuesday, Committeeman David Sandahl elaborated on the financial pressures facing the committee as it grapples with the emotionally charged layoff controversy. Mr. Sandahl noted that:
Total township spending grew just over $4 million from 2000 to 2005, from$13.1 million to $17.2 million.
Higher costs for wages and salaries for police and public works, employee health benefits, legal expenses, and insurance premiums make up over 70 percent of the total increase in that period.
The operating expense budget has been held back sharply in recent years, with spending limited to 2003 levels in 2004 and 2005, and five vacant positions remaining unfilled.
While the overall budget increased 30 percent from 2000 to 2005, wages and salaries for police and public works grew 50 percent, and costs for medical benefits and insurance premiums grew 90 percent and 120 percent respectively. One of the largest increases is for legal services, related primarily to land-use litigation.
Almost all of the wage, salary, and benefit costs are now driven by contract. Compensation costs, including salaries and benefits, make up 49.9percent of the current budget request.
Much of the spending in the budget cannot be controlled directly by the Township Committee. Compensation, cash management, and grants, which make up over 80 percent of the budget, are largely fixed.
To cut the projected tax rate increase from 9.1 cents to 4.7 cents would require budget reductions of about $1.1 million, or about 10 percent from all spending financed by municipal property taxes.
Committee members have said in recent weeks that it was their goal to cut the budget enough to lower the tax rate increase to about 5 cents. If the budget is adopted as it now stands, the 9-cent tax-rate increase would bring the municipal tax rate to 45 cents per $100 of assessed property value. This means the owner of a home assessed at the township average of$279,500 would see an annual municipal tax increase of $252 to $1,258.