by Sean Ruppert, Staff Writer
Democratic incumbents running for Township Council and their Republican challengers say that maintaining efficiency in government is key to keeping the municipal budget as small as possible.
The Republicans are calling for a full audit of every department in the township by a committee of citizens or an outside organization. The Democrats say they have done an effective job of maintaining a stable tax rate in part by reducing the township’s work force as employees leave or retire.
There are three Democrats — Councilwoman Carol Barrett, Councilman Joe Camarota and Councilman Charles Carley — running for three seats on the council on Nov. 4. First-time Republican candidates John O’Sullivan and Steve Walrond are challenging them.
Mr. Carley said that when he reviews the budget, he concentrates on the trend lines.
”What I do is look at where everything has been going, in terms of revenue and spending,” Mr. Carley said. “Sometimes you see growth, other times it is negative growth, but you have to be able to adjust.”
Mr. Carley said that in his last four years on the council, he and his Democratic colleagues have had to deal with many fiscal challenges, such as state-mandated increases in pension contribution and cuts in municipal aid. He said that he and the council have been able to mitigate these costs by increasing efficiency.
”That money just hasn’t come out of the ether. As people have retired, we have shifted the work around and cut salaries,” Mr. Carley said. “I think our record on spending has been pretty conservative.”
Mr. O’Sullivan said he would like to see a commission of qualified townspeople created to audit the efficiency of every department in the township. He said the measure would find ways to cut costs.
”We want everything to be very cost-effective and efficient,” Mr. O’Sullivan said. “We want to look at it from a business point of view.”
Mr. O’Sullivan said would like to have several budget meetings at the Municipal Building, as well as throughout the town.
”It’s all public information,” he said. “We need to try and get more people involved.”
Ms. Barrett said the town should look into increasing shared services as a means of controlling costs.
”We should work with the school board to see what we can do, and with the county, too,” Ms. Barrett said. “This past year we re-paved a school parking lot, because it was cheaper for us to do it in house. We can save money that way.”
She said the township also should concentrate on saving energy as a cost-cutting measure. She said the town should continue switching to energy efficient bulbs and banning idling of government vehicles.
Mr. Walrond said he thinks that the township should save more of its surplus at the end of the year. He said it should be saved and used for unexpected events and some long-term projects.
”It isn’t a black-and-white issue; it’s not a choice of spending it all or putting it all away,” Mr. Walrond said. “It depends on how much you have. If you deplete it though, you can put yourself in a hole when a disaster happens.”
Mr. Camarota said the Democrats, who used 90 percent of the surplus generated in 2007, are giving the people back their money.
”Last year, we kept 10 percent for a rainy day. The rest we gave back to the taxpayer,” he said. “We are obligated to keep the tax bills as low as possible. To just have the surplus sit there, when we know full well based on what we have coming in that it is going to regenerate next year, makes no sense. I think the people paying their tax bills would rather see a zero increase, than have a couple-hundred-dollar increase and know that the town held onto $10 million. When we look at the budget we take into account many things. When we know the surplus is going to be replenished, it is our obligation to refund the money in the tax bill, it is their money.”

