By Somerset County Board of Freeholders
SOMERVILLE – The Somerset County Board of Freeholders has introduced a 2011 county budget that is $161,411 less than last year’s.
A public hearing on the proposed $211,067,689 budget for 2011 will be held Tuesday, April 12. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. in the freeholders’ meeting room in the county administration building at 20 Grove St. Free parking is available in the Bernie Field Parking Deck off East High Street.
“With the elimination of another 27 positions, we now have 149 fewer people on the county payroll than we did three years ago,” said Freeholder Director Robert Zaborowski. “By leveraging attrition and continuing our hiring freeze, we’re literally doing more with less. And, in our effort to be even more operationally and financially efficient, we’re already looking at ways to reduce the budget again in 2012.”
By eliminating funding for another 27 positions, vacancy savings are $2.8 million in the 2011 budget. The total vacant-position count since 2008 now stands at 149, which represents a workforce reduction of 12 percent.
"After another difficult budget process, we’ve developed a spending proposal that is less than the previous year’s and one that features a lower total tax levy as well," said Freeholder Peter S. Palmer, finance committee chairman. He noted that the amount to be raised by taxation is down by $109,000 to $168,720,100. "This budget balances the need to maintain essential county services with the desire to fund county programs as economically as possible.
"The wage freeze accepted by our non-union employees and by 16 of our 19 unions is what made this budget possible," Freeholder Palmer said. "We are somewhat unique among local governments in that we have been able to reduce our headcount without having to resort to layoffs."
All county departments and agencies have been asked to maintain a flat or decreased budget for non-salary expenses. Four county departments show overall decreases for 2011:
§ Executive – decrease of $32,952 or 1.03 percent
§ Finance & Administrative Services – decrease of $315,283 or 5.19 percent
§ Human Services – decrease of $709,397 or 4.55 percent
§ Public Works – decrease of $850,004 or 2.81 percent
The Department of Public Health and Safety also has decreased expenses $17,931 while continuing the shared-service initiative to assume dispatch duties for many local municipalities.
Changes in employee health benefits include an increase in prescription co-pays to $25 for name brands and $20 for generics, effective July 1 for most employees and retirees. Those co-pays will increase to $30 and $20, respectively, effective Jan. 1, 2012.
Click on the links below to view the proposed 2011 county budget and the budget presentation.
BUDGET AS INTRODUCED: http://service.govdelivery.com/docs/NJSOMER/NJSOMER_75/NJSOMER_75_20110323_103000_en.pdf
BUDGET PRESENTATION:
http://service.govdelivery.com/docs/NJSOMER/NJSOMER_75/NJSOMER_75_20110323_102500_en.pdf

