Suggestion to cut benefits fails to gain panel’s support

BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer

MANALAPAN – During a discussion of the municipal budget at the May 14 Township Committee meeting, Deputy Mayor Susan Cohen made a budget cutting suggestion and prefaced her comments with the acknowledgement that it was not going to be well-received by her fellow members of the governing body.

Cohen suggested that the five members of the Township Committee relinquish their medical benefits, saying the cost, which she estimated at about $60,000, could be used to help pay for other items in the budget.

The Township Committee is expected to introduce its 2008 municipal budget at tonight’s meeting.

When asked to respond to Cohen’s suggestion, Mayor Michelle Roth’s response was, “The elimination of these benefits is less than one-tenth of 1 cent. I, along with the rest of the governing body, disagree with the deputy mayor. My annual stipend is $7,763 and my health benefits total $14,187. On average I put in 40 hours per week in addition to my full-time job. This puts my hourly wage at just over $10 per hour, which is less than we pay our recreation supervisors.”

Committeeman Richard Klauber said, “As a taxpaying resident as well as an elected official, I would like nothing better than to be able to provide our residents with a tax cut this year to help offset the rising costs we all face. However, after having seen the revenue and expenditure projections it has become apparent that this would not be possible without the significant elimination of the services that make Manalapan such a wonderful place to live.

“Under such circumstances, I have been interested in hearing the budget ideas of all members of the governing body. As Mrs. Cohen campaigned on the promise to cut taxes, I have been looking for her solutions to our financial woes. I have not heard any such solution to date. Mrs. Cohen has suggested that the members of the governing body forego their health benefits and be compensated solely with their $7,000 a year stipend.

“However, the resulting savings are then to be spent elsewhere on such items as a volunteer party, a volunteer junket to Wisconsin or the hiring of new employees which would result in a net increase of our costs. I do not believe more political gimmicks are the answer to our problems. The initial municipal budget is crafted through the hard work of our paid professionals and while I welcome any and all ideas from our residents, as elected officials, it is our ultimate responsibility to make the final difficult decisions. I continue to look forward to working with my fellow committee members in a non-political manner to find common ground and present a budget that is fiscally responsible not only for the present, but also for our future,” Klauber said.

In his remarks, Klauber was alluding to Cohen and Committeeman Anthony Gennaro having supported some township volunteers’ recent request that the township pay travel expenses for them to attend outof state conferences.

Committeeman Andrew Lucas, in responding to Cohen’s suggestion, also referenced the requested travel junket saying, “This one proposal is woefully inadequate toward proposing a stable budget, let alone one with a tax cut.”

Lucas also went on to say, “Mrs. Cohen was elected while she made her campaign promise of cutting taxes. There is a $3.2 million budget shortfall and to date she has made one proposal to cut approximately $20,000 out of the budget and at the same time has proposed new spending that is triple that amount for new hires, for a select few to attend out-of-state conferences and parties.”

During the discussion of the health benefits, Roth asked Gennaro for his take on Cohen’s suggestion that themembers of the Township Committee not take municipal health benefits.

Gennaro, who is serving the final year of his term and is not seeking re-election, said, “I am in favor of it for the rest of this budget year and keeping it (medical coverage), not removing it.”