Rafano: Cty. is meeting challenges of the times

Director discusses issues facing Middlesex in annual address

BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer

Middlesex County is in good shape, despite the poor economy and cuts in state aid, Freeholder Director Christopher D. Rafano said in his recent “State of the County” address.

“All the while, we maintained our AAA rating from Standard & Poor’s, one of the nation’s leading bond rating agencies,” Rafano said in his Oct. 7 address. “Only 67 out of 3,140 counties in the nation achieve this rating.”

Officials also managed to avoid an increase in the county tax rate in 2010, largely due to a 2 percent ceiling on salary increases this year and $7.2 million in expense reductions, Rafano told Greater Media Newspapers on Monday.

“As a result, in 2010 the actual salary and wage budget was down $1.5 million,” he said. “We eliminated 35 positions in 2010. There’s been a hiring freeze for all non-essential employees for the last two years.”

Middlesex County’s administrative code requires that the freeholder director give a “State of the County” address each fall, said Rafano, currently seeking his fourth term on the freeholder board.

The $3.4 million cut in state aid affected services such as mental health care, public health care, education and human services, Rafano said.

“We were left no choice by the state of New Jersey but to reduce — and in some cases eliminate — services to our residents,” he said.

The county will continue to pursue shared services with municipalities and other counties, including shared uniform fire code and building inspectors, a stateof the-art emergency radio system, countywide public employee health insurance, a vehicle washing facility, and emergency dispatch services, Rafano said in his address.

The county recently entered into a shared services agreement with Dunellen to provide uniform code inspectors. Middlesex County has provided medical examiner services to Monmouth County for the past two years, a move that generates about $150,000 in revenue each year, Rafano said Monday.

Middlesex also entered into an agreement with Monmouth County to house Monmouth’s juvenile offenders in Middlesex County’s youth detention facility, which will translate into more than $25 million in revenue over the next 10 years, he said.

“These are challenging times,” Rafano said. “We are looking at all aspects of our county government and all other revenue sources. We’re pulling out all the stops.”

Middlesex County was ranked first in the number of commercial construction projects by Construction Reporter, a state Department of Consumer Affairs publication.

Middlesex was also first in the total dollar amount of construction authorized by building permits, with more than $643 million for the first six months of the year, Rafano said in his address.

Some of the larger projects currently under way include the Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro, the City of New Brunswick Gateway in downtown New Brunswick, and the Sam’s Club on the 102- acre former Ford site in Edison. The site will eventually include a hotel, movie theater, office space and a restaurant.

“More than 6,000 jobs will be created by this one project alone,” Rafano said.

The county’s website is in the process of being redesigned so residents can access county services online. They can reserve fields in county parks, sign up for health clinics, schedule medical transportation, file a complaint with the county Department of Consumer Affairs or get a copy of their deed from the County Clerk’s office, he said.

The website upgrade will also include agendas and information on freeholder meetings.

Residents will be able to watch recorded meetings online, in addition to viewing them on local cable channels, Rafano said.