Post #29 2011 Muni Budget Q&A 5/2/11

FYUI- Here are a few Q&A's on the muni budget I thought would be informative to the readers who may be inquisitive of the muni finances. It is in a format where the questions were asked and then the answers from Ms. Bruns the boro CFO are right afterward in italics. I thank Ms Bruns for her thoroughness.

To the boro administrator, mayor and governing body: I thank you for the opportunity in allowing members of the public to comment and ask questions on the Garwood municipal budget. It is also commendable in again reaching out and having the public email any budget questions ahead of time to allow the financial officer to review and be able to have any appropriate information ready at the meeting. I apologize for it being so close to the budget vote at the council mtg but hopefully this does not create too much duress. This is also based on the budget I received on 3/7/11 at the workshop.


General Budget Questions:
1) What happened to the cap bank reso that normally appears the council mtg before the budget is voted on. Answered at mtg by Auditors. This year it had become unnecessary when the 2% mandated cap criteria came into existence.
2) How many boro workers accepted the $6,000 stipend to opt out of the boro insurance plan. This appropriation would be located in what account code. No one took the stipend in 2011. If they had it would appear as a separate line item in the budget document called “Health Benefit Waiver” following the Health Insurance line item. The FCOA code would be 23-221.
3) How many members are presently in the PERS pension system? How many are in the PFRS. There are presently 41 PERS members and 17 PFRS members.
4) Have we budgeted for the approximately $54,000 loss in the lawsuit over the Police Officer Mirabella incident. No, it is not in present budget.
5) In the budget are there any costs that are recoded and now are in other line items different from last years line items? (the county does this under the guise of “reorganizing” every year. The BOE did it some shuffling the other year.) What are they. All costs are reflected in the appropriate line items and there have been no changes or recoding.
6) How many total condominium units of the MEWS aka The Pointe are now on the tax records for this budget year. 44 out of 44 units now on tax rolls.
7) How many units of housing have filed for a tax appeal last year. Also so far for this year. How many appeals have been adjudicated in 2010. How much in tax moneys had to be remitted last year. I see sht 20 accnt 36-477-2 has $10k allotted for appeals pending. There were 25 county appeals in 2010 resulting in an adjustment of $30,867 to 4Qtr taxes. There are currently 24 county appeals for 2011 which are still pending. There are 5 state tax court appeals pending.
8) How many of the mayor and council are taking the health insurance. How much is this costing the taxpayers for the part time positions? One council member is covered by the Borough’s health insurance plan at an annual cost of $20,476 for medical and $733 for dental. (editors note: this year based on the mandated 1 1/2% health care cost pay-in, this person will pay 1 ½% of the council stipend of $1,500- or only $225 for this.)
9) What is our total debt including bonds. What is the increase from last year. Our total net debt at 12/31/10 was $3,772,877 which is down $2497 from the prior year end. At 12/31/10 our debt was broken down as follows: Bonds $570,000 BAN’s $2,166,197 and debt authorized but not issued $1,036,680. (editor's note-these numbers include the rec complex borrowing.)
10) How many Garwood residences are in foreclosure? We have received notice of 21 foreclosures since 2009.
11) How much $ did the library give back to the boro from last years appropriation if they did not use it all up. The library has not turned over any unused appropriations to the boro.
12) 3 officers (2 PO and the Chief) are retiring this year. Do we have the going away costs (unused sick/vacation/other) budgeted in this budget. Yes we have part of the $ in this year’s budget and some in reserve.
13) If we institute the 1 ½% giveback on the health costs from the employees, how much is this generating back to the budget. Effective April 1st all employees no longer aligned with a union began paying the 1.5% healthcare contribution. This will generate approximately $6386 in 2011.
14) There may be offline budget items that hold taxpayer monies in cash management accounts and is nowhere to be found on the budget. How many accounts are there and how much $ is in them. Discussed prior to mtg.
15) Any cost for bulk pick up appropriated? No, none in this years budget.


Revenue questions:
1) Sht 4 accnt 08-103 Alcoholic beverages: This shows and increase of almost $5,000. Were the fees raised by ordinance last year? Yes Ordinance #10-04 increased these fees.
2) Sht 9 accnt 10-713 Kids Recreational Trust fund grant: This decreased by $60,000. This money is generated by the county golf fees and the county has proclaimed that they made record fees in golf last year. Why did it decrease? Per Boro administrator: Kids Recreational Trust fund comes from the Open Space tax. In order for municipalities to obtain and utilize this tax for open space projects they have to apply in accordance with the grant application prepared by the Open Space Trust Fund. The borough has and will continue to apply for these funds.
3) Sht 11 accnt 10-001 Total section F public/private revenues: This went from $132.5k to $62.8k a decrease of ($60k). Why. This total reflects the $60K reduction mentioned above.
4) Sht 11 accnt 15-499 Receipts from delinquent taxes: With the economy getting worse why would you expect $200,000 in revenue. Per state budget law we are permitted to anticipate a percentage of delinquent taxes as revenue. That amount for 2011 is $273,450. We actually anticipated a more conservative amount of $200,00.


Appropriations questions:
1) In the appropriations section on the far right side of the page is a “reserved column”. Please explain what happens to these monies. The reserved column is a snapshot at 12/31/10. If we receive bills in 2011 for charges incurred in 2010 we charge the appropriate 2010 line items. At the end of 2011 any balance remaining in 2010 appropriations is turned over to surplus.
2) Sht 15 accnt 25-240-1 Police Wages: Since 2 PO and 11 chief are retiring and there were rookies on the payroll last year, why is this account still increasing by 8.2% from $1.667m charges in 2010 to $1.804 for 2011. Per sheet 15 the 2011 Police Salary line item is $1,785,823 an increase of $17,648 or 1% over 2010.
3) Sht 15a accnt 32-465-2 Sanitation landfill other expenses: If we paid $135.8k in 2010 why are we increasing it 13% to $153k. The paid or charged amount of $135K was as of 12/31/10. The actual amount paid for 2010 was $147,411. This line item was decreased from 2010 by $30,500.
4) Sht 20 accnt 36-477-2 LOSAP costs: how did you arrive at $25,000. Normally this runs around $40-50k. The finance committee reduced this appropriation. The annual costs range from $36K to $43K.
5) Sht 27 accnt 45-925-2 Payment of BANs: This went up almost $35k. Why. BAN’s require a minimum paydown after the third renewal. We had 3 ordinances which were borrowed against in 2008 that required this paydown for the first time in 2011.
6) Sht 27 accnt 45-935-2 Interest on notes: This went down($23k). Why. The interest rate for BAN’s maturing in 2010 was 2.75% The interest rate for BAN’s maturing in 2011 was 1.5%. Our current BAN rate is 2.0% so this appropriation will be higher next year.

Thank you Ms Bruns and Ms Arriemma for your time and attention.

Bruce Paterson 4/25/11