20230315 - Village Council Special Public Budget Meeting Minutes

A SPECIAL PUBLIC BUDGET MEETING OF THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD HELD IN THE SYDNEY V. STOLDT, JR. COURT ROOM OF THE RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE HALL, 131 NORTH MAPLE AVENUE, RIDGEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ON MARCH 15, 2023 AT 5:00 P.M.

 

1.         CALL TO ORDER – OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT – ROLL CALL – FLAG SALUTE

 

Mayor Vagianos called the meeting to order at 5:07 P.M. and read the Statement of Compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act. At roll call, the following were present: Councilmembers Perron, Reynolds, Weitz, and Mayor Vagianos. Councilmember Winograd was absent at the meeting. Also present were Heather Mailander, Village Manager/Village Clerk; Robert Rooney, Chief Financial Officer; and Olivia Andreula of the Finance Department.

 

Mayor Vagianos led those in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

 

2.         COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC

 

NONE

 

3.         DISCUSSION ITEMS

 

A.        FINAL REVIEW OF DEPARTMENTAL BUDGETS AND CAPITAL BUDGETS

 

            1.         CAPITAL BUDGET

 

Ms. Mailander said that the final budgets have been reviewed with all Department Directors and a final decision will be made this evening regarding the final tax rate. Beginning with the Capital Budget, Ms. Mailander asked if there were any questions or comments. Councilmember Reynolds asked if the item pertaining to concrete sidewalk and drainage repairs for $50,000.00 had been placed back into the budget, since the paperwork this evening was different from the paperwork she received on Monday. Mr. Rooney said that it had been added back in and clarified that there were four items in the final budget presented this evening, which had not been in the budget distributed Monday evening. He said that the first item was the addition of $50,000.00 identified by Councilmember Reynolds. The last three items were the removal of $5,000.00 for radio upgrades, addition of $65,000.00 for the Recycling Center heat and bathroom upgrades, and removal of $65,000.00 for the truck for the Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF).

 

Councilmember Reynolds asked what work would be done regarding the concrete sidewalk and drainage repairs for $50,000.00. Mr. Rooney replied that he thought the funds were not allocated for any specific project, but would be allocated for overall use.

 

Councilmember Reynolds then inquired about the heat and bathroom upgrades at the Recycling Center. Sean Hamlin, Director of Recycling, stated that the Recycling Center location is shared with the Parks and Recreation Department. There is currently only one bathroom, with one toilet, at that location, which needs to accommodate 27 employees. It has been this way for many years, and there is often a line of employees waiting to use the restroom. In addition, there is no designated changing area for the employees who wish to take off their uniforms and change into their street clothes after they are done working. Their breakroom is only heated via a gas-powered wall space heater, which is inadequate to heat the space.  

 

Councilmember Reynolds asked Mr. Hamlin if the $50,000.00 would be enough to cover heating and the installation of a second bathroom. Mr. Hamlin replied that staff in the Signal Division are collaborating with the Engineering Department to develop a plan to build an extra bathroom. The sewer line from the existing bathroom has been a problem for years and repeatedly backs up because the two-inch sewer line is inadequate. Replacement of this sewer line would be included as part of the work.

 

Councilmember Reynolds noted that there had been a line item for $65,000.00 for the WPCF for replacement of Truck #50, which has been removed from the budget. Mr. Rooney said that this department volunteered to give up the request for the truck until next year.

 

Councilmember Reynolds pointed out that the sum of $500,000.00 remained in the budget for the Schedler property. She pointed out that these monies could be better allocated to many other things that have been removed from the budget, things that involve public safety and stormwater management. She said that $100,000.00 was taken out for hazardous tree removal and replacement; $150,000.00 was removed pertaining to removal and replacement of trees damaged by the emerald ash borer; $200,000.00 was removed for the construction of sidewalks on East Glen Avenue; $1 million was removed for the construction of sidewalks on West Glen Avenue; $400,000.00 was removed for drainage improvements on Circle Avenue; and $100,000.00 was removed for drainage improvements at the intersection of Morningside Road and Fairmount Avenue.

 

Councilmember Reynolds said that all of these items are related to safety, which she stated should be the Village’s number one priority, instead of the development of the park at the Schedler property. She said that she would like to see the $500,000.00 allocation for the park at the Schedler property be removed, and applied toward items related to safety and security. She said that she was shocked that the installation of a larger field at the Schedler property was a higher priority than safety issues, such as fixing sidewalks or performing stormwater management to prevent residents’ homes from flooding every time there is a big storm.

 

Deputy Mayor Perron thanked Mr. Hamlin for his patience, since his request for the purchase of side-loaders for the Recycling Department was removed from this year’s budget. Mayor Vagianos thanked all Department Directors for their hard work and stated that this is an especially difficult budget year. He said that there were no unreasonable budget requests and, even though many requests have been removed from the budget, the tax rate for 2023 may end up being almost double what it was in 2022. He said that the Village Council could not possibly determine the final budget without the expert guidance of the Department Directors.

 

2.         OPERATING BUDGET

 

Ms. Mailander said that the document entitled “Preliminary Draft” contained percentages and showed overall reductions. She said that this document shows how each Village department gave up a large percentage of their budget requests, some pertaining to salaries and wages and others related to Other Expenses (OE). She said that some departments have given up as much as 90% of their OE budget. The total original budget has been reduced by approximately $5 million.

 

Ms. Mailander turned her attention to the document entitled “Budget Reductions, Appropriations Only.” She said that new hires were requested in various departments, and the end result is that there will be no new hires in 2023, except for a Village Manager. Promotions and title changes were also requested, but none of those will occur in 2023. A Grant Writer will not be hired, overtime for the Police Department was cut, and overtime for the IT staff, for assisting with hybrid meetings, was cut. Removed from the budget were Tax Appeal Reserves, Reserves for Accumulated Leave, Capital Improvement Fund, Trust Reserves, and OE for Police Department vehicle maintenance. The health costs were applied to the grant received by the Health Department. Ms. Mailander reviewed other reductions and adjustments made regarding salaries and wages, legal, retirement payout, and merchant service charges. She mentioned that the Village is going to begin assessing a 3% service charge for any credit card payments made by residents for various programs and services. Hiring a company to develop a new Village website was cut.

 

Ms. Mailander said that the School Resource Officer was inadvertently put into the budget twice, which was corrected. Ammunition needs were increased for the Police Department and new hires for the Police Department were removed, as well as the related psychological and physical examination costs for the new Police Officers. In addition, the hiring of three EMTs was removed. Taser maintenance and taser supplies were reduced, since those are included in the first year after tasers are purchased. Closing the Recycling Center on Saturdays was considered, but then removed. Ms. Mailander said that the Ridgewood Fire Chief came up with new revenue sources through fee increases. She said that increased Village fees across the board will be explored, such as in the Building Department.

 

Ms. Mailander indicated that there are also Village-wide furloughs of employees in the proposed budget as well. She said that the budget has been reviewed repeatedly to avoid layoffs and/or furloughs. At this time, it appears that layoffs are not going to be considered. Ms. Mailander stated that the furloughs may result in reductions in production and efficiency, but this would be better than laying off employees, especially with the current inflationary economy.

 

Councilmember Weitz asked Ms. Mailander what the furloughs would entail. Ms. Mailander indicated that furloughs would mean that employees would work fewer days per week and would not be paid for those days. They are looking to furlough employees on Fridays during the summer, which would mean that Village Hall departments would be closed on Fridays; however, the Recreation Department would not be closed, due to the pool and camp programs that run during the summer. The Recreation Department employees would take their furlough days in the fall, alternating days off to ensure adequate overage, so that the Recreation Department does not close in the fall. Ms. Mailander explained that fewer people visit Village Hall during the summer, due to vacations, and therefore the summer is the best time to close Village Hall on Fridays. These furloughs will probably not take place until mid-July, since they entail a lot of Civil Service paperwork to be completed and submitted. These furloughs apply to all Village staff, from the Village Manager on down, except for the Police and Fire Department staff, who are exempt from furloughs.

 

Deputy Mayor Perron indicated to Mr. Rooney that she was going to waive her Village Council stipend, and Mr. Rooney thanked her.

 

Councilmember Reynolds said that she was entirely against initiating any furloughs. She feels that it would be bad for morale and economically detrimental to Village employees. She believes that the Village Councilmembers could figure out a budget that would not require furloughs. If taxes were increased anywhere between 4% to 6%, this would mean a difference of $7.33 a month to residents, and she did not think that residents would complain about paying that extra amount per month if it meant that all Village employees could remain working on a full-time basis.

 

In addition, Councilmember Reynolds stated that hiring a new Village Manager did not make since, since Ms. Mailander does such an excellent job and is a bargain. She stated that waiting just six months and permitting Ms. Mailander to remain as Village Manager for the rest of the year would mean that $84,000.00 could be put back into the budget and furlough days would be reduced by two days. She said that it did not make sense during a fiscal crisis, such as that facing the Village currently, to waste money by hiring a new Village Manager at $225,000.00 a year, which does not include the cost of benefits, when Ms. Mailander is performing this function now at much lower wages. She also stated that removing $500,000.00 from the Capital Budget for the Schedler property would save the Village money in the Operating Budget, approximately $25,000.00, and reduce the furloughs by one day.

 

Councilmember Reynolds stated that the Ridgewood Library was very blessed this year regarding the money they received from the State of New Jersey, and she would like to hear someone from the library tell the Village Council that they will figure out how to pay to hook up the generator to the library themselves, rather than the Village paying them $75,000.00 toward the hookup. Councilmember Reynolds asked Ridgewood Library representatives whether they had originally planned to pay for the hookup themselves, since Rocco Orlando was obtaining estimates for same, and the Library representative stated that they were still working on getting estimates. The Library representative said that if the money needed to hook up the generator were cut in half, they would not realistically be able to do the installation this year, without the full capital amount. Therefore, she said it would be reasonable to omit the $75,000.00 from the Library budget, since their Operating Budget is in an advantageous position. Councilmember Reynolds and the other Councilmembers thanked the representative from the library, since it would mean that less furlough days would have to be taken.

 

Councilmember Reynolds noted that, in the Capital Budget, $60,000.00 was added for litter cans in the Central Business District (CBD). She stated that while she is not thrilled with the garbage cans currently in the CBD, she feels that these funds would be better applied toward stormwater management projects. She said that while the garbage cans are not pretty and a couple of them are broken, they can be fixed rather than replaced. She said that she would like to see the $60,000.00 for the purchase of new garbage cans removed from the budget. Mr. Rooney said that this sum has been in the budget since early in the discussions. Councilmember Weitz agreed with Councilmember Reynolds and stated that the purchase of new cans could be delayed until next year.

 

Mayor Vagianos asked if the $60,000.00 was in the Operating Budget, and Ms. Mailander replied that it is in the Capital Budget, but that it would affect the Operating Budget regarding the required 5% downpayment. Mayor Vagianos said that removal of the $60,000.00 would not have much of an impact on the Operating Budget and would not affect furloughs. Councilmember Reynolds stated that the $75,000.00 request from the Library was removed from the Capital Budget, and that every little bit helps.

 

Councilmember Reynolds stated that removing the $500,000.00 for the Schedler property would affect the Operating Budget a lot. Councilmember Weitz added that the Schedler project costs started at $2.5 million and are now down to $500,000.00. Councilmember Reynolds stated that currently, there is $1.9 million in funding for the Schedler property, and that it was not right and fiscally irresponsible to add another half a million dollars towards the Schedler project, when the Village was considering furloughing employees. A discussion ensued regarding how the Operating Budget would be affected if $500,000.00 for the Schedler project were removed from the Capital Budget. Mr. Rooney explained that it would only save 5% in the Operating Budget.  If $60,000.00 is removed from the Capital Budget, then $3,000.00 would be saved in the Operating Budget (5% downpayment). Councilmember Reynolds countered by saying that removing $500,000.00 from the Capital Budget would result in a $25,000.00 savings in the Operating Budget.

 

Mayor Vagianos stated that the Schedler property has been dormant for 14 years and that this project needs to be completed. He said that the impact on the Operating Budget if the $500,000.00 were removed from the Capital Budget would be “de minimus.” Councilmember Reynolds felt that the Schedler property will not be completed this year, and that the $500,000.00 will just sit in an account when it could be used elsewhere. She mentioned the proposed larger field, which will cause an encroachment and lead to the matter being heard before the State Historic Preservation Office’s Historic Sites Council, which, in turn, will lead to the hiring of an attorney to act on behalf of the Village. She asked where this money would come from.

 

Mayor Vagianos stated that the person they are looking to hire will give the Village the opportunity to finish the Schedler project as quickly as possible. Councilmember Reynolds began talking about transparency and how many things were discussed about the Schedler property “behind the scenes.” She feels that the public has a right to know what the Councilmembers were discussing when developing the final budget as presented this evening, such as the proposed closing of the Recycling Center on Saturdays, the proposed closing of Graydon Pool for the season, and the proposed elimination of rear yard garbage collection.

 

Mayor Vagianos brought up the fact that there were discussions between administration and Department Directors that were not made public, since those discussions took place over many hours. He said that Councilmember Reynolds’ remarks about transparency were disingenuous. He said that no one was thrilled with the resultant budget, since the tax increase is too high, there are too many furloughs, and the equipment and workers which Village departments need cannot be provided in full. He said that all requests could be put back into the budget, which would result in an 11% tax increase.

 

Councilmember Weitz remarked that, especially for senior residents, an 11% tax increase would be unconscionable. He said that the previous Village Council had the benefit and luxury of Covid money and did not have to deal with the unprecedented rise in healthcare costs. He agreed with Mayor Vagianos that the Village Councilmembers find themselves in a miserable position and that no one is happy with the circumstances. Regarding the transparency comment by Councilmember Reynolds, Councilmember Weitz called it a “red herring.” He said that the Village Councilmembers were very clear in stating the Department Directors, Mr. Rooney and Ms. Mailander met in order to see what additional items could be omitted from the budget. He emphasized that these meetings are not public meetings. Councilmember Weitz said that he did not think it was fair for Councilmember Reynolds to say that transparency has been compromised or for her to want all the omitted items placed back into the budget, which would result in a phenomenally high tax rate. He said that the Village Councilmembers must make some tough decisions.

 

Mayor Vagianos said that the Village Councilmembers, including Councilmember Reynolds, had previously directed Ms. Mailander and Mr. Rooney to consult once again with the Department Directors to see what could be further cut from the budget, which is what they did.

 

Councilmember Reynolds stated that she never recommended that all of the omitted budget requests be placed back into the budget. However, she feels that too much has been omitted and she is very concerned about how those cuts will affect the Village this year and in future years. She is concerned that if an unforeseen emergency arises, the Village will not have enough money in reserve to pay for it. She would like to see some omitted items placed back into the budget and reiterated that it would cost the average taxpayer only $7.33 per month if the tax rate were increased anywhere between 4% and 6%.

 

Mayor Vagianos said that Councilmember Reynolds made a very good point, and that the Village Councilmembers should discuss how deep the cuts should be in the budget. However, he stated that he did not want to hear any more comments about the budget process not being transparent. Councilmember Reynolds said that was fair enough but that the priorities of the other Village Councilmembers were “out of whack,” in her opinion. She stated that the Village’s main priorities must be public safety and security. She said that she would like to ask Police Chief Jacqueline Luthcke some questions about her request to hire more police officers being taken out of the budget, and how that decision will affect the residents of Ridgewood.

 

Councilmember Weitz asked if the wording “Estimated 2023 Municipal Taxes” applied to yearly or quarterly taxes. Mr. Rooney said that this was an annual number, and he also broke it down quarterly and monthly. He said that the estimated municipal tax would be the municipal tax rate. If the tax rate of 6.645% were multiplied by the averaged assessed home value of $707,500.00, the result would be the estimated yearly taxes. Ms. Mailander said that the paperwork also showed the monthly differences between a 4.06% increase, which is actually what they got it down to, and other higher tax rates.

 

Ms. Mailander also clarified that two new police recruits were hired in January and the Police Department had budgeted to hire five more in July, due to retirements both this year and last year. She said that she did not want the Village to be in a position where a lot of overtime was being paid in the Police Department, due to short staffing. Ms. Mailander stated that Captain Lyons informed her that to fill a squad with a supervisor costs $1,700.00 per shift, and to fill a squad with a police officer, it costs approximately $1,300.00 per shift. If only one police officer is on vacation or calls out sick, there would be no problem with coverage, but if two or more officers are unable to work for various reasons, then it becomes a problem and some officers need to be called in to work overtime, to fill a shift.

 

Chief Luthcke corroborated what Ms. Mailander stated. When the workforce goes below minimum numbers, then additional staff has to be called in to work overtime. She said that with two police recruits still in the Police Academy and with four of their staff retiring this year, the net numbers would be brought down to 43 officers. In this circumstance, staff are pulled from the Traffic Bureau or Detective Bureau, which results in no traffic studies being performed or any of their regular duties being accomplished. It also results in cases not being followed up on, and this leads to residents becoming irritated. The last time there were only 42 officers on the police force was when as many as eight officers retired at the same time. This resulted in $850,000.00 being incurred in overtime that year, and this occurred despite strict management of overtime hours.

 

Chief Luthcke explained that when she knows officers will be out due to an injury or paternity leave, she tries to juggle the personnel to cover these absences. However, if the overtime occurs for a long period of time, the officers suffer from burnout, due to long working hours. The domino effect continues with resultant illness and morale issues, when staff is forced to work too many hours over a long period of time. She stated that more physical injuries occur as well, because officers are working too many hours, without enough downtime.

 

Councilmember Reynolds stated that the Village obviously cannot afford that kind of overtime. She recalled that Chief Luthcke had also asked to hire clerical workers so that police officers could be taken off administrative duties, to perform their regular policing duties. When asked by Councilmember Reynolds how many officers were currently on the force, Chief Luthcke replied that there are currently 46 officers. However, there will be only 43 after the retirements take place, and this includes the police recruits. After the police candidates graduate from the Police Academy in July of this year, Chief Luthcke stated that they will not count in staffing levels until December 2023 or January 2024, after more on-the-job training has been completed. Councilmember Reynolds asked Chief Luthcke if the Village would be harmed in future years if she is not able to hire more police officers at the current time, and Chief Luthcke said that it would definitely adversely impact the Village.

 

Councilmember Weitz asked when the police retirements would take place this year. Chief Luthcke said that one officer has already retired, one will probably take place in July and one in August, and the fourth date is unknown at this time, but it will be sometime before December. Councilmember Weitz asked if Chief Luthcke knew how much savings would be realized, in terms of salaries and wages, after all of these retirements have taken place. He assumed it would depend upon the exact dates of retirement. Chief Luthcke said that they have attempted to take some of these numbers out of the budget to see what that would look like. Mr. Rooney said that he believed the numbers (salaries and wages) have already been adjusted, based upon the retirements, but he did not have that paperwork in front of him. Chief Luthcke recalled that these adjustments have already been factored into the current budget.

 

Councilmember Reynolds asked whether all police officers on the force are available to work or if there were any on sick leave or off duty for any reason. Chief Luthcke replied that there are currently no police officers who are unavailable to work. However, she said that this was subject to change at a moment’s notice, if an officer is injured chasing a criminal or hurts their back while helping to lift an injured resident. Councilmember Reynolds asked how many more police officers Chief Luthcke felt needed to be hired so that the Village would not be “in harm’s way” next year or the year after. Chief Luthcke stated that she would like to hire five more officers; however, she realized that this was unrealistic given this year’s budget. She stated that hiring two more officers would be a good step in the right direction, in addition to the hiring of the two police recruits in January. She believes that there are three retirements coming up next year. Chief Luthcke stated that since it takes almost a full year for a recently graduated candidate to become a full-fledged police officer, it would be prudent to hire a police officer a full year before a retirement takes place.

 

Captain Lyons added that hiring clerical personnel will immediately open up the ability of police officers performing administrative duties, to go back on the road. The administrative duties performed are mandatory pursuant to statute, but could easily be done by clerical personnel. Councilmember Weitz asked how many detectives are on the force, in addition to uniformed officers. Chief Luthcke said that there are currently five people assigned to the Detective Bureau. However, their schedules vary and they are “their own unit.” She added that the detectives are pulled to do other work when things get busy.

 

Councilmember Reynolds noted that $50,000.00 was indicated for one clerical position and she asked if this was a full year’s salary, and Mr. Rooney replied in the affirmative. She said that if Ms. Mailander were allowed to retain her Village Manager position, a clerical person and three police officers could be hired for the Police Department. Mr. Rooney stated that the costs involved in hiring an officer to start on July 1 would be $29,650.00. This includes uniform, physical exam and psychological exam, along with a $20,000.00 half-year salary. This salary would increase to $40,000.00 in 2024. Councilmember Reynolds stated that hiring a part-time clerical worker would only cost $25,000.00 for a half-year salary.

 

Mr. Rooney said that there was originally a request to hire three clerical workers, one to perform clerical work and the other two to perform desk duty (alternate shifts). Chief Luthcke said that the most important position would be the one involving video redacting (Records Discovery Clerk at $50,000.00), which is currently a full-time job for one of the detectives. Mr. Rooney stated that the salaries for the other two clerks totaled $80,000.00. Mayor Vagianos said that if a Records Discovery Clerk were hired, it would be like hiring a new police officer because the detective doing that work currently would be freed up to perform his regular duties.

Councilmember Reynolds stated that if a part-time Records Discovery Clerk and two police officers were hired, it would amount to $85,000.00, and there is a line item in the budget for $84,000.00 for the hiring of a new Village Manager for six months. Three new people could be hired if Ms. Mailander retained the Village Manager position.

 

Mayor Vagianos stated that he was not interested in the Village Manager “arithmetic,” because he felt that this would be pennywise and pound-foolish. He acknowledged the wonderful job done by Ms. Mailander in the Village Manager role, but he said that more people were needed “at the top,” because this would save money in the long run.

 

Addressing Mr. Rooney, Mayor Vagianos said that his “rough and dirty” math showed $171,000.00, which he said would raise the tax rate by about three-tenths of one percent (4.06% to 4.36%). Councilmember Reynolds asked Mayor Vagianos how he arrived at the figure of $171,000.00 and Mr. Rooney asked the same question. Mayor Vagianos said that he would let them know. Mr. Rooney said that this would result in a tax rate of 4.53%.

 

Deputy Mayor Perron indicated that she would be in favor of hiring a Records Discovery Clerk, since it would free up police officers to perform their regular duties, but that was as far as she would go as far as hiring additional personnel. Councilmember Weitz said that a very compelling case was presented to hire a Records Discovery Clerk. There was a discussion about whether to hire more police officers, and what a significant tax increase would do to senior residents.

 

Councilmember Weitz stated that he was in favor of hiring a new Village Manager, stating that it was an investment for the future. Councilmember Reynolds asked what the harm would be if the Village waited another year before hiring a Village Manager, and Councilmember Weitz said that Councilmember Reynolds would make the same argument next year (that a new Village Manager was not needed). Councilmember Reynolds felt that the Village Councilmembers needed to be fiscally responsible, and she did not feel that hiring a new Village Manager at this time was being fiscally responsible. Mayor Vagianos said that, for decades, the Village had a dedicated Village Manager and a dedicated Village Clerk, except in the past few years, and that it was time to hire a separate Village Manager. There was back-and-forth discussion between Councilmember Reynolds and Mayor Vagianos about hiring or not hiring a Village Manager, and Councilmember Reynolds said that the only reason for removing Ms. Mailander from that role was because it was a “political hit job.”

 

            B.        WRAP-UP AND SETTING OF TAX RATE

 

Ms. Mailander said that with a tax rate of 4.06%, the budget would require employee furloughs. A tax rate of 4.77% would result in a monthly difference (from 4.06%) of $2.60, or $20.13 per month ($60.39 quarterly, $241.00 annually) and would not include any furloughs. When questioned by Councilmember Weitz, Ms. Mailander said that the tax increase would correlate with an average assessed home value of $707,500.00. If a property/house is assessed at a lower value, the monthly tax increase would be less, and vice versa. A tax rate of 4.92% would result in a monthly difference (from 4.77%) of $3.15.

 

Ms. Mailander said that, ideally, she would like to be able to fund budget transfers at the end of the year if necessary, which are usually needed. However, the budget is becoming “very tight,” to the point where budget transfers may not be able to be accomplished. Getting closer to the 4.925% would allow budget transfers to take place. Ms. Mailander spoke about unforeseen emergencies that may arise during the year and what would happen if there were insufficient funds to pay for that emergency. Monies can be appropriated for an emergency and paid for in the next year’s budget; however, this must be approved by the State. If the State determines that the Village set an unrealistically low tax rate this year, the emergency appropriation may not be approved.

 

Councilmember Weitz noted that the Village Councilmembers were provided with a comparison of other municipalities, which have already finalized their budget. He pointed out that Franklin Lakes had a 4.67% tax rate and Ho-Ho-Kus had a tax rate under 5%, with Midland Park at 5.7% and Ramsey at 8.5%, so he assumed that these municipalities were facing the same challenges as Ridgewood. He said that Waldwick and Wyckoff only had a 2.5% tax rate and he wondered how they had managed to keep the tax rate so low. Ms. Mailander said that they probably had much lower expenses and fewer households. Some municipalities are not enrolled in the State Health Benefits Plan, since they are self-insured, and do not have to deal with the 22% increase in healthcare benefits.

 

Ms. Mailander said that the Village did shop around for better healthcare rates, but the Village’s “loss runs” were too high and those insurers would not accept the Village as an insured. She said that there are a large number of Village employees, which makes things more difficult as well. In the towns with larger tax increases, such as in Ramsey, Ms. Mailander said that some driving factors were benefits, pension and garbage, since some towns do not have their own garbage collection services. In some towns, which do not pick up garbage themselves, costs for garbage collection and disposal rose by as much as 90%.

 

Councilmember Weitz asked how much Covid money was lost this year, and Mr. Rooney said that $1.3 million was received in 2021 and $1.3 million in 2022. Councilmember Weitz asked what this year’s tax rate would have been if the Village had received $2.6 million this year. Mr. Rooney said that he would have to do the calculations, but $390,000.00 equals 1%. Councilmember Weitz figured out that the tax rate would have decreased if Ridgewood had received $2.6 million in Covid funds this year.

 

Mr. Rooney agreed and stated that, in 2022, the Village Councilmembers wanted to maintain a 1.99% municipal tax rate, so the entire sum of the Covid funds, $2.6 million, was spent in order to obtain that municipal tax rate. Therefore, he said that the towns with a lower tax increase might not have expended all of the Covid funds, which they received in either 2021 or 2022. Councilmember Weitz asked if there had been any discussions among the Village Councilmembers about perhaps saving some of the Covid money for use later, rather than use most of it to lower the municipal tax rate in 2022. Mr. Rooney stated that Covid money could have been used for a multitude of things, depending upon the needs of the community. He said that the Village used the Covid funds to reduce taxes and to make up for losses in the revenue stream, due to the Covid pandemic.

 

Deputy Mayor Perron stated that at the League of Municipalities conference last year, the consensus was that municipalities should use the Covid monies allocated to them to invest in capital and equipment with a ten-year life expectancy. Therefore, all of the funds were used by the Village in one year. Mr. Rooney added that Ridgewood has an aggressive Capital Budget. When he first became Village CFO, Mr. Rooney said that police cars had holes in the floors and there was only one garbage truck serving the entire community. The Village made a big investment in order to maintain that infrastructure.

 

Mr. Rooney explained that the Village’s healthcare provider, the NJ State Health Benefits plan, never put money away in reserve and did not increase their rates appropriately every year. The Covid pandemic happened, the healthcare provider paid out a lot of money to insureds, and they are now trying to recoup their losses all at once. Therefore, things built up to a point where the Village is now facing a 22% increase in healthcare costs. Mr. Rooney added that Governor Murphy has been “sitting on” billions of American Rescue Plan (ARP) money. He used some of the money to “smooth out the bumps” for State employees for healthcare costs, but the Governor has not yet used the ARP money to help municipalities “smooth out the bumps” with healthcare costs for their employees. There is some relief for money for local government employees in this year’s State Budget, but municipalities will not see any relief from those monies until next year’s budget.

 

Mayor Vagianos asked if any of the Village Councilmembers wanted to review any of the other departmental budgets. Councilmember Reynolds stated that she did not feel so much money should be taken out of the Parks and Recreation Department budget for trees. Mayor Vagianos agreed. Ms. Mailander stated that they have taken the hiring of two Shade Tree employees out of the budget, which would result in insufficient staff to plant more trees this year. A lot of time last year was spent by employees from the Parks and Recreation Department investigating sites where sidewalks had been removed to see if tree roots needed to be ground or not, before the new sidewalks could be installed.

 

Mayor Vagianos asked Mr. Rooney what the tax rate would be if $98,000.00 were added to the budget. Mr. Rooney said that this would bring the tax rate to 4.33%. Mayor Vagianos proposed that the hiring of one police officer and a clerical employee for the Police Department be added back into the budget, and that the furlough days for all employees (except Police and Fire) be reduced from six to five, which he believed was $98,000.00. This would make the municipal tax rate 4.33%. When Councilmember Weitz asked how much would be saved on the furlough days, Mayor Vagianos said that $43,000.00 a day would be saved. Councilmember Reynolds said that she did not want to have any furlough days. Deputy Mayor Perron said that she would vote in favor of Mayor Vagianos’s proposal, stating that she felt it was a reasonable compromise. Mayor Vagianos said that he wished there were no furlough days, either, and that more police officers could be hired.

 

Councilmember Reynolds asked Mr. Rooney where the budget would stand if one police officer and a clerical employee were hired, with no furlough days at all. Mr. Rooney said that, in that case, the tax rate would be 4.91%. Furlough days amounted to $258,000.00 and $54,650.00 for one police officer and one clerical employee, which totals $312,650.00. Ms. Mailander said that the 4.92% would result in an additional $248.15 per year for taxes for the average homeowner. Mayor Vagianos said that there was approximately a $238.00 annual tax increase from 4.06% to 4.92%. Councilmember Reynolds said that she wanted to know the difference between 4.33% and 4.91%, which she believes is approximately a $1.70 per month difference. Mr. Rooney said that her calculations were close.

 

Mayor Vagianos said that according to the comparison between municipalities regarding tax rates, there were four towns below Ridgewood and four towns above Ridgewood. Deputy Mayor Perron remarked that the Village Council does not know what the Board of Education (BOE) is doing with their budget. Councilmember Reynolds stated that the Village Council can only concentrate on their own budget, and Deputy Mayor Perron said that was true but that everyone needed to be cognizant of the fact that the BOE’s budget would affect residents’ taxes as well.

 

Mr. Rooney stated that the BOE and Bergen County develop their own budgets and don’t really worry about what the Village Council is doing. He felt that the Village Council should not concentrate on what either the BOE or County is doing, because they are not providing the same services that Ridgewood does. Mr. Rooney stated that his goal was to maintain the services that Ridgewood provides, and they have already decided not to eliminate backyard garbage pickup or to close the Recycling Center on Saturdays. He stated that he was not in favor of furloughing employees.

 

Ms. Mailander added that services will also be reduced to residents if Village Hall is closed on Fridays during the summer months (5 days total). Councilmember Reynolds added that this would affect garbage collection as well, and Ms. Mailander said that the schedules for garbage collection would have to be adjusted if Village offices are closed on Fridays. She added that bulk pickup schedules may have to change as well.

 

Mr. Rooney said that he wanted to go on record as stating that all of the numbers presented this evening are preliminary numbers and are subject to change. Some of the numbers have not yet been confirmed and some numbers relating to revenues may have to go through an ordinance, which must then be adopted. Mr. Rooney added that the budget also has to be reviewed and approved by the State; if it is not approved or delayed, the final numbers will be impacted.

 

Mayor Vagianos stated that the Village Council should not worry about the BOE or County budgets. However, as pointed out by Deputy Mayor Perron, residents’ taxes are going to be affected not only by the Village Council municipal budget, but also by the budgets of the BOE and County, and therefore the Village Councilmembers need to look at the “big picture” on a long-term basis and keep those other budgets at the back of their minds. He said that a .05% increase does not seem like a lot, but those incremental increases accumulate year after year, sometimes forcing families out of their homes. He concluded by stating that he is fine with the budget as it presently stands, with a 4.33% municipal tax rate.

 

Councilmember Reynolds asked Mr. Rooney if the Village would be in trouble if an emergency arises. Mr. Rooney said that the Village could account for an emergency which is a “true” emergency. He cited the example of a garbage truck, which broke down last year, and a $300,000.00 emergency appropriation had to be made. What he did not want to see occur was a Department Director coming to him in September and telling him that they have $40,000.00 in bills which they cannot pay through their departmental budget. In that case, there may not be sufficient funds available to do fund transfers to pay for those bills. He said that he cannot transfer monies from department to department until November. Mr. Rooney said that each Department Director is going to have to watch their funds very closely and not spend money unnecessarily.

 

Mr. Rooney explained that when appropriations lapse due to the funds not being spent, he is able to use those funds in the Surplus Fund the following year. He stated that he was approximately $250,000.00 short last year. He said that he was using $4.5 million surplus in this year’s budget, which is probably more than he should use, but he is using those funds to maintain an acceptable tax rate. Ms. Mailander added that a 4.91% tax rate would allow for more breathing room. A discussion ensued about not having to furlough any employees if the tax rate was 5%, as well as enabling Village Hall to remain fully staffed and open every day of the week.

 

Councilmember Weitz stated that he was more concerned with the “human factor” rather than the fact that Village Hall may have to close a few days during the summer, which would merely cause an inconvenience to residents. He said the main issue is how to balance the tax impact to residents versus the sacrifices that would have to be made by furloughed workers.

 

Councilmember Reynolds asked Tony Merlino, Director of the Building Department, how his department would be impacted by the proposed furloughs, given the fact that his office is already short staffed. Mr. Merlino had requested that two part-time employees be hired to assist in the Building Department. Councilmember Reynolds stated that residents are waiting a long time for permits to be issued or approved and for inspections to take place. She said that closing the Building Department for five days will create havoc. Mr. Merlino stated that he and his staff would just need to work harder.

 

Councilmember Weitz asked Mr. Rooney if the furlough days could be rescinded in the event the budget seemed to be doing better than projected during the year. Mr. Rooney deferred to Ms. Mailander, since she is the one who would need to file paperwork with the Civil Service Commission for the planned furloughs.

 

Ms. Mailander replied that the paperwork could be filed with Civil Service and the numbers could be reduced afterward. Civil Service would first have to approve the furloughs, but the Village could request that the number of days be reduced if it was found that the Village had sufficient funds to pay employees for more days. In addition, the unions would also have to “buy into” the furloughs. Facing layoffs, the unions would probably prefer furloughs. However, realistically, the Village must show what measures were undertaken to avoid having furloughs at all. In addition, although Ridgewood Water employees are not paid out of the Village’s tax base, these employees would also have to be furloughed, due to the fact that they are in the same unions as other Village employees (Blue Collar and White Collar Unions).

 

Ms. Mailander said that she did not know what would change in the budget during the year, which would affect the amount of furlough days. Councilmember Weitz stated that a budget could be passed that would include furlough days and then a decision could be made later in the year to not enforce the furloughs. Mr. Rooney stated that a budget with a 5% tax rate could be introduced with no furlough days, with an introductory hearing, and then the budget could be amended before final adoption. However, once the budget is adopted, it cannot be changed. Ms. Mailander concurred.

 

Councilmember Weitz said that he was actually asking the opposite question. He had asked whether the furlough days could be rescinded, after a budget is adopted with furlough days contained within it, if it appeared that the budget projections were high and monies became more fluid. Ms. Mailander said that she highly doubted that this would occur. Mr. Rooney explained that if an employee is being furloughed for six days beginning July 1 (six Fridays), he would like to reduce employees’ pay for those furlough days over the remaining pay periods through the end of the year. Therefore, he does not see a way where the furlough days could be rescinded, since the Village Council would have already committed to that change.

 

Deputy Mayor Perron asked if a budget amendment could be done after adoption of the budget. Mr. Rooney said that the only time a budget can be amended after adoption is if the Village files a Chapter 159, when a source of revenue offsets an appropriation. A governing body must adopt a resolution requiring approval of the Director of the Division of Local Government Services for the insertion of any special item of revenue from any public or private source that was unknown at the time of adoption of the annual budget. However, Mr. Rooney explained that the tax rate calculation can never be changed once the budget has been adopted. Ms. Mailander added that the Bergen County Division of Taxation ends up striking the final tax rate for Ridgewood once all three (municipal, BOE and County) budgets are finalized.

 

Councilmember Weitz asked if someone could explain what happens after tonight’s budget meeting. Mr. Rooney explained that if the Village Council agrees that the tax rate will be 4.33%, he will start developing his state budget, check it to make sure all numbers are correct, and then would send the budget to the State for approval. The State will contact Mr. Rooney with any amendments which they feel need to be made to the budget. There are some statutory requirements regarding certain amendments, where a public hearing may be mandatory. In the meantime, the Village Councilmembers will set dates for both introduction and adoption of the budget. An announcement notifying the public of the date of the final budget adoption by the Village must be published ten days before the hearing date. On that date, members of the public are permitted to speak about any issues that they are concerned with, regarding the budget. If the Village Councilmembers feel that some of these issues are valid and need to be addressed, then the Village Councilmembers have an opportunity to amend the budget accordingly. If a line item changes by more than 10%, a hearing must be held and an amendment adopted. If a line item changes by less than 10%, then the change can be made on the night of the budget adoption meeting. If there are no changes, then the budget is adopted and a tax rate is struck.

 

Ms. Mailander said that the budget introduction is scheduled for March 30, 2023 and the budget Public Hearing and final adoption is set for April 27, 2023. If it is determined that a budget amendment is needed, which changes a line item by more than 10%, at the April 27^th meeting, then another Public Hearing would need to be scheduled before adoption of the budget. Ms. Mailander added that the State still needs to approve the proposed budget, and in the past, such approval was not received until as late as 4:00 P.M. on the day of the final budget adoption meeting.

 

Councilmember Reynolds asked Ms. Mailander if she has ever been employed by the Village when furloughs occurred. Ms. Mailander replied that she has worked for the Village during a time when there were layoffs, but not furloughs. She stated that, in the eyes of Civil Service, a furlough is the same as a layoff and the same paperwork is required for both. Ms. Mailander stated it is a laborious process, including: submitting a racial makeup of the employees being furloughed; describing what measures were taken to avoid the furloughs; and obtaining a sign-off from the unions that they were notified of the proposed furloughs. The Civil Service Commission then has time to review and approve the furlough plan or ask for further clarification. All employees are then notified in writing that the furloughs will take place for a certain number of days, and there is an additional statutory time period that is required, before the furloughs take place.

 

Councilmember Reynolds asked Ms. Mailander if she had any idea how many hours it would take her to prepare the furlough paperwork for Civil Service. Ms. Mailander estimated that it may equal 35 or 40 hours of work. She said that it was a very lengthy and complicated process. Ms. Mailander, Mayor Vagianos and Councilmember Reynolds thanked all departmental staff for coming to the meeting this evening.

 

It was decided by consensus, except for Councilmember Reynolds and Councilmember Weitz, that the budget would be put through with a 4.33% municipal tax rate. Ms. Mailander asked Councilmember Reynolds what changes she would like to see in the budget. Councilmember Reynolds said that she would like to see no furloughs and wanted Mr. Rooney to be comfortable with the budget in the event of an unforeseen emergency. In addition, she wanted to see priorities more aligned with what she feels should be the job of the Village Councilmembers, regarding issues of public safety, trees, and stormwater management. She feels that these priorities are not being addressed with the budget as it now stands.

 

Ms. Mailander then asked Councilmember Weitz what he would like changed in the budget. Councilmember Weitz said that he is uncomfortable with a 4.33% municipal tax rate, but he is also uncomfortable cutting anything further out of the budget. He said that he would like to see the municipal tax rate near 4.33% while avoiding furloughs. He said that the public is not going to be happy with tax increases and the employees are not going to be happy with furloughs, so the Village Councilmembers need to make some hard decisions. Upon further reflection, Councilmember Weitz said that he thought the Village Council should move forward with the budget at a 4.33% municipal tax rate.

 

Ms. Mailander next asked Deputy Mayor Perron if there was anything she wanted changed in the budget. Deputy Mayor Perron said that with a 7% inflation rate, she feels that a 4.33% municipal tax rate is reasonable. She said that she was impressed with the solution of five furlough days. She said that when she worked for the Federal government, she and others would be furloughed for two weeks at a time, with no “smoothing out” of the loss of income. Deputy Mayor Perron said that she was in favor of using the $169,000.00 left over in the Capital Budget for tree plantings.

 

Ms. Mailander then asked Mayor Vagianos what he thought about the budget, and he replied that he did not like the budget at all. However, he said that he will live with the 4.33% municipal tax rate. He said that the furloughs were distasteful, but were less distasteful than layoffs.

 

 

 

4.         COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC

 

Anne Loving, 342 South Irving Street, began by thanking Deputy Mayor Perron for sending her the link for the streamed Village Council meeting, since it had been unavailable most of the day. Ms. Loving said that she had heard someone mention that they were thinking about closing Graydon Pool for the season. She stated that Graydon Pool generates revenue and she cannot understand why closing the pool was even brought up.

 

Ms. Loving recalled a question by Councilmember Reynolds this evening asking where the funds would come from, in order to hire a legal consultant for the Schedler property. Ms. Loving said that there was no answer forthcoming to this question, and she assumed that the hiring of the legal consultant would be for the purpose of overturning the historical designation of the Schedler house and property.

 

Ms. Loving said that she cannot believe that the Village Councilmembers have included furloughs in the budget, which she stated was unacceptable and disgraceful. She said that residents are paying taxes for services, which will be diminished, and the furloughed employees have bills to pay and families to support. Ms. Loving said that it doesn’t “ring true” when three Councilmembers say they do not like furloughs but that it must be done. She said that the furloughs cannot occur, particularly in light of the fact that the Village Councilmembers are obsessed with spending large sums of money for a larger field at the Schedler property.

 

Boyd A. Loving, 342 South Irving Street, said that what the public is going to remember from this evening is the fact that the Village Councilmembers authorized the sum of $60,000.00 for the purchase of new garbage cans, which he called “someone’s pet project.” The public is also going to remember the expenditures of $500,000.00 for the development of the Schedler property and $225,000.00 for a new Village Manager. The public will also remember the furloughs and the fact that the furloughs became necessary due to these large expenditures. Mr. Loving said that it was disgraceful and unacceptable that the Village Councilmembers would continue with projects like the garbage cans and field when Village employees are being furloughed five days.

 

Nancy Brennan-Hill, 136 Doremus Avenue, echoed the comments of Mr. and Mrs. Loving. She wondered whether the Village Councilmembers could look at the budget again to see what could be eliminated, such as the items identified by Mr. Loving, which represented large sums of money.  She wondered if these items were taken out of the budget, if furloughs could be avoided. She said that the Village should remain true to their employees, and she sees no need to hire a lawyer for the Schedler property, especially since the neighbors in that area would be very happy with a beautiful park and a smaller field.  She recalled that Ridgewood resident Linda McNamara spoke extensively in the past about the dangers of artificial turf. She thanked the Village Councilmembers who spoke about water, clean air and trees, which are some of the essentials of life.

There were no further public comments.

 

Deputy Mayor Perron asked the public to keep in mind that a significant chunk of the Village’s tax revenue comes from Village businesses, particularly those located in the Central Business District (CBD). She said that if the CBD “looks crappy,” those businesses will suffer. She said that the existing garbage cans look terrible and she has received many complaints about them. Deputy Mayor Perron indicated that it is important for the Village Council to help the businesses thrive, so that tax revenues can be maintained from the business community, and residents do not have to absorb the taxes that the businesses would have paid to the Village, if they remained open. For those reasons, Deputy Mayor Perron does not feel that the purchase of new garbage cans is a “pet project.”

 

Councilmember Reynolds said that she disagreed with Deputy Mayor Perron and thinks that the $60,000.00 allocated for the purchase of new garbage cans can be better spent on other priorities. She said that there was nothing wrong with the current garbage cans, although she acknowledged that some might need to be replaced.

 

Councilmember Reynolds also wanted to clarify that the Village is not hiring a lawyer. The Village paid for two notices last week and the week before, but those notices were improper because the Village Councilmembers thought that Peter Primavera was a lawyer and he is not. He is a consultant. To the best of her knowledge, Councilmember Reynolds indicated that Mr. Primavera will appear publicly before the Village Council, where the Councilmembers and hopefully members of the public can ask him questions. As far as she knows, Mr. Primavera has not yet been hired by the Village.

 

5.         ADJOURNMENT

 

There being no further business to come before the Village Council, on a motion by Deputy Mayor Perron, seconded by Councilmember Weitz, and carried unanimously by voice vote, the Village Council’s Special Public Budget Meeting was adjourned at 7:02 P.M.

 

 

 

                                                ____________________________________

                                                                                                Paul Vagianos

                                                                                                        Mayor

 

 

____________________________________

                     Heather A. Mailander

             Village Manager/Village Clerk