LAWRENCE: Council to seek tax referendum

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   Faced with having to seek voter approval for a 9-cent property tax rate increase for the 2012 municipal budget, Township Council asked Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun earlier this month to come up with some alternatives to avoid a referendum.
   The alternatives Mr. Krawczun presented Tuesday night — eliminating the Recreation Department and Emergency Medical Services, laying off 36 employees or accelerating the tax sales on properties that have past-due property taxes — left Township Council members with blanched faces.
   With little hesitation, Township Council decided that it would be better to seek the referendum than to close down departments and lay off employees. The council expects to take action on a resolution at its March 6 meeting that would authorize placing a referendum question on the same ballot as April 17 school district election and budget vote.
   The 9-cent property tax rate increase would be in addition to a 5-cent property tax rate increase contained in the $42.3 million 2012 municipal budget. The referendum question is needed to allow township officials to exceed the state-imposed 2-percent cap on the tax levy.
   To comply with the 2-percent cap on the increase to the property tax rate, it would be necessary to plug in $4.87 million in surplus funds into the budget as a source of revenue, Mr. Krawczun said. It would wipe out most of the available surplus fund of $5 million, leaving about $154,000 in surplus funds.
   Mr. Krawczun said it might be possible to “regenerate” about $2.6 million, but not the entire amount that is proposed to be used as a revenue source for the 2012 budget. The 9-cent property tax rate increase would generate about $2.2 million.
   Mr. Krawczun said he wanted to make it “unequivocally clear” that the layoffs proposals were made in response to Township Council’s request at its Feb. 7 meeting. He said they are not “hard and fast recommendations” for implementation. They were offered for discussion purposes.
   Eliminating the Recreation Department programming and shifting the Superintendent of Recreation and one staff person to run special events and the Lawrence Senior Center would save about $232,000, he said. This means cutting out programs such as the summer camps, T-ball and adult programming.
   Another option is to eliminate the Emergency Medical Services, Mr. Krawczun said, which would save $334,000. The township employs emergency medical technicians around the clock, instead of hiring an outside vendor.
   Laying off 36 employees would provide $2.2 million in savings, the manager said. The Police Department would be the hardest hit department, with the layoff of eight police officers. Two firefighter positions, which are currently vacant, would be left unfilled.
   A clerk would be laid off in the Municipal Clerk’s Office, and a secretary in the Municipal Manager’s Office. The Tax Collector’s Office, as well as the Engineering, Community Development, Planning and Redevelopment and Construction departments would lose one employee apiece.
   The Department of Public Works would lose four employees, and the Recreation Department and the Emergency Medical Services unit would be wiped out.
   ”I keep hearing that we should run municipal government like a business. (But) to do it correctly, we need these people,” Mr. Krawczun said.
   He added that if one were to treat it as a sports team and look at the bench to put people in the game, “they are all in the game.”
   Calling in all past-due property taxes, which would be accomplished through a tax sale, would raise money but it would be a one-shot revenue source, he said, adding that he would not recommend it because of its one-shot nature. It would not help to regenerate surplus funds.
   Tax sales typically are held on properties that are one year in arrears, but the proposal would include past-due 2011 property taxes. The amount of unpaid taxes can be paid to the municipality by someone other than the property owner. The person who “purchased” the unpaid taxes would be owed the amount of the taxes, plus interest, by the property owner.
   Township Councilman Greg Puliti said he was opposed to dismantling the Recreation Department, the EMS unit and staff layoffs. He pointed out that the township administration has cut staffing levels by 10 percent over the past three years, as well as raising fees and taking other cost-containment measures.
   ”I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that burglaries are rising because of economic times. We will never solve any crimes in this town (if we lay off police officers). This is the hand we have been dealt. We need the referendum. I am inclined to put the referendum on the ballot and vote for it to pass,” Mr. Puliti said.
   Councilman Michael Powers said that eliminating the Recreation Department is not a good idea and cited the increase in childhood obesity. Outsourcing EMS would leave the township at the mercy of the EMS provider, he said.
   Councilwoman Cathleen Lewis said there is “no magic, one-size-fits-all” solution and that the township will have to ask residents for more money. She said she did not think there were any “small cuts” that could be made, and that “we are out of viable options.”
   ”Let the voters decide if they want the Recreation Department and EMS,” said Councilman David Maffei.
   Mayor Jim Kownacki said he did not want to lay off staff or eliminate the Recreation Department and EMS. The only thing left to do is to go out for the referendum, he said.