Twp. adopts $30.3M municipal spending plan Residents ask for independent review of township budget BY DANIEL HOWLEY Staff Writer OCEAN TOWNSHIP- Township residents were disappointed last week after a suggestion to appoint a committee to further review the $30.3 million municipal spending plan was denied. At theMay 5 municipal meeting, council voted unanimously, 3-0, to adopt the township budget, which calls for township homeowners to pay an additional $207 in municipal taxes annually. Councilman Christopher Siciliano was absent form the meeting and did not vote on the spending plan. "I'm not sure that this budget was prepared in a responsible fashion," resident Larry Loigman said. Loigman asked council before the vote if they would consider hiring an independent firm to review the spending plan before a decision is made on it. He referred to a similar budget strategy used by the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders. "The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders was able to substantially reduce their budget so that they came in with, I believe, a zero increase," Loigman said, explaining that the freeholders hired an independent committee to review the budget prior to voting on it. "I think what should have been done right from the beginning, and I think one of the things that the freeholders did was appoint a committee to have some outside people, not with vested interests, not department heads, but some outside people to take a look at the budget right from the start," Loigman said. Dwight Drive resident Bob Ades agreed with Loigman. "I'm not even going to look at [the 2008 budget] any more," Ades said, adding, "I want to talk about 2009. "Larry made a lot of recommendations here," Ades said. "Are you willing to start now, or wait until [the 2009 budget] to appoint that committee that Larry is suggesting?" Ades asked. Mayor William Larkin explained that council was voted into office by borough residents and one of the responsibilities of the governing body is to craft and review the spending plan. "You have a committee of outside people," Larkin said. "They are five people that you elect every four years. That is part of our job." Loigman went on to criticize the council by alleging that the borough governing body has a history of ignoring suggestions from residents. "This council has consistently refused to accept any suggestions from the public and the process is set up to refuse to accept those suggestions," Loigman said. "And that's why we have a budget that is going to have a very substantial impact on a lot of people who are going to be extremely unhappy," he added. Larkin explained that a majority of the budget is for mandatory line items that the borough has no control over. "If you look at where the money is allocated, you will see that a very small portion of the increase is related to the township itself," Larkin said. The budget is calling for township taxpayers to raise a tax levy of $16.5 million. The budget carries with it a 4.7-cent tax rate increase. Township taxpayers will see an increase from last year's 30.8 cents per $100 of assessed property value to 35.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation under the approved spending plan. With the average township residence valued at $444,920, the average taxpayer will pay an additional $207 in taxes annually. According to Township Manager Andrew Brannen, municipal taxes make up approximately 16 percent of the overall taxes paid by residents. He explained that the township implemented several cost-saving measures in order to keep the municipal budget from increasing too much. "We are hoping to secure agreements with our different bargaining units, and nonunion personnel is having our employees contribute to their health insurance," Brannen said. "Certainly we are attempting to move in that direction," Brannen added. Additional cost-saving measures could include the use of shared services between Ocean Township and surrounding towns, according to Brannen. Ocean Township will be sharing its court facilities and emergency dispatch service with other surrounding towns to help reduce spending, Brannen said. He went on to explain that the township attempted to further defer a higher budget increase by using $7 million from the town's $10 million surplus.