WEST AMWELL: PBA might be open to talks about less money

Tim McGuire: “We are going to be requesting financial records from the township, and once we receive the paperwork, and we present it to our financial analyst, and we see where West Amwell is budg

By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
   WEST AMWELL — The union that represents West Amwell Township’s police officers says it is willing to negotiate a lower raise than what their contract calls for, but not without first seeing the township’s financial records to determine the state of West Amwell’s financial health.
   The officers have a contract that calls for a 4 percent raise this year.
   The township has said it must cut the budget by about $110,000 to meet a state cap of 4 percent.
   ”The PBA is willing to negotiate with West Amwell Township in these hard financial times,” said Tim McGuire, president of the Hunterdon County PBA Local 188. “We are going to be requesting financial records from the township, and once we receive the paperwork, and we present it to our financial analyst, and we see where West Amwell is budgeting their money, we will then meet with Mayor (William) Corboy, at his convenience and discuss, possibly, negotiating this.”
   The township has implemented several steps to save jobs, according to Mayor William Corboy. The changes include an unpaid day off every two weeks for nonunion township employees as well as no raises for them this year.
   According to figures released last week by the state Department of Community Affairs, West Amwell, like many other municipalities across the state, also will suffer a cut in state aid. The township will lose $48,195, according to the DCA.
   The township’s total state aid package, including a portion of the energy receipts tax distribution, will decrease from $1,316,824 last year to $1,268,629 this year.
   Earlier this month, Mayor Corboy asked police officers to forego their raise this year. The amount of the raise would equal about $15,000.
   PBA Local 188 represents more than 50 police officers in eight municipalities. In addition to West Amwell, the union also represents the town of Clinton, Frenchtown and High Bridge boroughs and the townships of Holland, Lebanon, Delaware and Franklin.
   Officer McGuire, who is a patrolman for the town of Clinton, said no municipality other than West Amwell is asking its officers to forego contracted raises.