By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
With the costs of municipal government constantly rising, candidates for Hillsborough’s Township Committee have different ideas in how to better prevent future tax increases for residents.
Republican incumbents Carl Suraci and Bob Wagner will square off in the Nov. 3 elections against Democrats Jim Farley and William Rossi for two three-year seats on the Township Committee.
For Mr. Wagner, maintaining a strong township and providing for the residents requires taking a businesslike approach to management.
”One of the most important things is running the township like a business,” he said. “We look to buy things yearly, but we had to make difficult choices and see what we could push.”
This idea, Mr. Wagner said, applies first and foremost to the township’s spending habits as it deals with this year’s cuts in state aid in the amount of more than $270,000 since 2008.
”We have to make sure we are continuing with cost-saving efforts,” he said. “We have to look at what’s best for the town and best for the residents. Certain bills we have to pay, but we keep it reasonable.”
Mr. Wagner said looking at spending from a business standpoint is about regulating how much is spent and maintaining a reasonable eye on what money is going out versus how much is coming in.
”Government is a business,” he said. “Money comes in, and money goes out.”
But this intake and outtake of money as well as what he deems blaming others for the township’s issues is what has convinced Mr. Farley there needs to be a more watchful eye on the workings of the local government, and why he believes eliminating the one-party rule of the Township Committee would be beneficial for the residents.
The Township Committee has five members, all of them Republican.
”(The committee) needs to stand up and be more accountable,” he said. “We need to have a watchdog. When people routinely watch the videos (of the committee meetings), there are all yes votes. There is no challenge.”
In the coming years, Mr. Farley said, a split committee would be more beneficial to the residents.
”That’s the legal system,” he said. “Decisions are being made, but are they good? If you’re on the committee, you should work harder for a solution.”
According to Mr. Rossi, the two-party system is imperative to complying with the needs of the residents.
”I’m not going to say I’m going to go in and fight them,” he said. “But I’m not going to be another yes vote. I’m going to ask the tough questions, and I want tough answers.”
In moving forward, Mr. Farley said he believes there are areas where costs could have been reduced to avoid the 1.1-cent tax rate increase that was approved in the 2009 budget without eliminating the services residents have come to expect in Hillsborough.
”I want to look at all the ‘other expenses’ in the budget,” he said. “I think the town has to be more affordable.”
One way to do this, Mr. Farley said, is to look into additional shared services with other local towns and the county itself for things such as grass cutting and other similar activities.
Mr. Rossi agreed additional shared services would be a way of reducing costs in the township to lower taxes, but also said the township should look into restructuring the offices to cut costs wherever possible.
”We need to consolidate and cut,” he said. “(For example), the county is doing an energy audit in town, and I know there are ways of cutting costs with that. I would make sure the recommendations from the county are followed.”
Despite these concerns, Mr. Suraci said the township worked hard this year to keep taxes under the rate of inflation and did what it could to maintain the same level of services while combining other positions.
”Despite the cut in state aid, we had tough discussions with regard to funding full-time positions,” he said. “Now we have monthly accountability meetings to head off any issues with spending.”
In addition, Mr. Suraci said, the township has continued its “pay as you go” plan to avoid having to borrow money.
”We are paying down our debt,” he said. “That helps our bottom line by saving on interest payments.”
Mr. Suraci also agreed grants and shared services would be in the best interest of the township, citing one effective method Hillsborough already has to share several of its inspectors with surrounding towns.
”We have a regional agreement to share each other’s inspectors,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to hire an inspector if there is only a small increase in the work, but we want to have one available if we need.”
Another method Mr. Suraci said sets Hillsborough apart is its refusal to participate in what he calls “budget gimmicks,” such as the state’s offer this year to allow municipalities to defer half the costs of their pension payments and pay them back over 15 years.
”We have set ourselves up well over the years,” he said. “We are looking years ahead to anticipate cost drivers. We don’t look at the budget year to year. We take a long-range view, and, to me, it’s the only right way to do it.”
This decision, Mr. Suraci said, lends itself to maintaining a businesslike approach to handling the government in the township as Hillsborough questions expenditures and refuses to borrow just for the sake of borrowing money. In addition, he claimed that, in comparison to surrounding towns such as Montgomery, Franklin and Bridgewater Hillsborough is spending less per capita and has fewer employees per every resident.
”We are making government more efficient to streamline everything,” he said. “We are looking for ways to do that and remove nonvalue-added activities. We could have reduced the budget by using the deferral plan. But it would be a long-term wrong.”
