News
M'Town Mayor Sees Hope In Christie's "Tool Kit"
By Ryan Fennell
MIDDLETOWN - Middletown Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger is relying heavily on the leeway that he expects to be granted in the coming weeks under a package of 33 bills proposed by Governor Chris Christie, referred to as a municipal, county, and educational "tool kit", as a means for solving the Township's budget woes.
"That's the long-range plan," Scharfenberger said. "It's one of the only ways to right the ship."
Scharfenberger was the first mayor in Monmouth County to endorse and pledge support for the Governor's proposed "tool kit" reforms and recently released a press release calling for more local officials to support the reforms package.
"For too long municipalities have been at the mercy of collective bargaining rules and civil service constraints that have pushed property taxes steadily higher," Scharfenberger said. "The governor's proposals will finally give mayors something that has been severely lacking in the past - the ability to control costs at the local level."
The key element in Christie's proposal is a constitutional amendment to impose a 2.5 percent cap on increases to the property tax levy by municipal, school and county taxes and a 2.5 percent cap on spending for State government operations. The latter cap excludes state aid to municipalities, school districts, and property tax relief.
On Monday, Christie embarked on a statewide tour that began in Hoboken to garner support for the bill package according to the Governor's Office. The bill package is currently before the state legislature and Christie is hopeful all of its elements will be adopted by the June 30 deadline.
"The mayor's toolbox he's giving us will impact municipal budgets, school budgets, and certainly higher education budgets so there is a long range plan," Scharfenberger said. "Thank God we have a governor with the foresight and ambition to finally take it on."
As far as the status of the Middletown Township 2010 municipal budget, Scharfenberger announced during Monday's meeting that the township is currently in negotiations with four of its unions over a zero percent wage increase for the current fiscal year.
According to Scharfenberger two of the four unions ratified the agreement as of Monday night. "I can't thank them enough for stepping up to the plate and doing their part to help us through this difficult time," Scharfenberger said. "If all goes well we'll have everybody on board for a zero percent increase. That's a major win for the taxpayers."
