Reworked salary schedule up for Borough Council approval

Ordinance would replace draft vetoed by mayor in August.

By: Melissa Edmond
   True to Mayor Angelo Corradino’s promise, a new salary ordinance was unanimously introduced at the council’s Nov. 14 meeting.
   At the Oct. 11 meeting, Councilwoman Sue Asher demanded Mayor Corradino rework the salary ordinance he vetoed in August and he vowed to have one ready for the meeting in November.
   The ordinance sets the salary ranges for municipal positions — but not actual salaries for those holding the positions — and is required by the state for every municipality in New Jersey. The vetoed ordinance would have set the maximum salaries for borough positions for the next five to six years.
   In a phone interview Monday, Mayor Corradino said he and Councilman Tom Weiss, head of the Finance Committee, worked together on the new salary ordinance with salary ranges that would last until Dec. 31, 2007.
   "The other one was a four-year increase and I thought that was too many years – too much money to play with," he said. "From now on, we will do it every two years."
   The new ordinance proposes a maximum salary of $115,000 for the borough administrator/engineer compared to the $180,000 in the vetoed ordinance.
   The new ordinance proposes a maximum salary of $15,000 for the mayor and $133,000 for the police chief compared to $20,000 for the mayor and $180,000 for the chief in the vetoed ordinance.
   Borough Administrator Gary Garwacke said the council will have a public hearing on the ordinance at its Nov. 28 meeting.
   "It will more than likely pass," Mr. Garwacke said. "This is really meaningless. Salaries are fixed by the mayor and council in resolutions."