Politics & Government

Township Court Implementing Cost-Saving Measures

The township council continues hearing information about the budgets for individual departments.

The township council continued its Monday, hearing information about reductions and additions to individual departments in the Bridgewater administration, namely public works, fire safety and the municipal court.

The budget has been introduced at , and residents will pay a municipal property tax of $989 for a home assessed at the township average of $410,000. This is an increase of $44 from 2010.

Natasha Turchan, director of finance, began by discussing the municipal courts, saying that in the past year, the department has implemented a use of foreign language interpreters.

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“It helped us save money on hiring interpreters,” she said.

In addition, Turchan said, the department reduced the number of regular court sessions—from 96 to 74—to save money without backlogging any cases, prompting councilwoman Christine Henderson Rose to question how they could reduce court sessions, but still hear the same number of cases.

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“This new courtroom enables us to bring in more people than we could previously do,” municipal court presiding Judge William Kelleher Jr. said. “We probably have 25 percent more volume in a given session than before.”

Council President Howard Norgalis questioned the police presence in the courtroom at any one time, asking whether there is a way to quantify the costs of having at least four officers in the courtroom at any one time during court sessions.

“Is there any way to really quantify the cost of the police, which probably is far higher than the regular costs?” he asked.

Kelleher said he does not have those numbers in the municipal court budget, but Norgalis said he would like to see those numbers at some point.

As for the planning budget, Turchan said, the department took over the zoning office this year, and had an increase in responsibilities, but salary costs have decreased over the year. Other expenses, she said, have risen because the workers are required to do additional training as required by the state for licensing.

Councilman Matthew Moench questioned whether the zoning department is now self-sufficient, as was discussed when the council approved an ordinance last year to .

“It’s a little early to tell because we implemented a new fee schedule,” said code enforcement superintendent Steve Rodzinak. “It’s a little hard to tell right now.”

In terms of the fire safety bureau, the only question from the council concerned the trust fund for the bureau, as they asked where the money comes from, and why the department only has $100 in its "other expenses" budget.

“With the penalties they collect, 50 percent goes to the township and 50 percent is to the fire district,” Turchan said. “It’s in a trust fund, which is a separate entity for maintaining that money.”

Fire official Phillip Langon said the department has completed all required inspections for 2010, namely all the ones mandated by the state.

As for the planning and zoning budget, the township saw in 2010 many master plan initiatives taking shape, and the township created a brochure for procedures to help applicants understand how the application process works.

In the coming year, Turchan said, the township is looking to get more on the GIS system, which contains graphical information of the township.

Township engineer Tom Forsythe said it is a database that can tell information about lot, block, tax data, assessments and other information.

“You could see the last time it was paved, and speed limits,” he said. “We keep trying to move toward that, putting the pieces together.”

“But that’s a wish list item for now,” added Township Administrator Robert Bogart.

Turchan said the township has also found that there were more planning board applications in 2010 versus 2009, with the same amount of zoning board applications.

And the zoning budget has increased in other expenses, Turchan said, because of additional required training.

“And it has risen because of a loss of some staff,” she said. “A zoning officer was not funded in 2011, so the responsibilities were allocated to other employees.”

Councilman Dan Hayes questioned whether the township has been able to accommodate commercial entities and all other needs with the loss of a zoning officer.

Forsythe said they have been able to adjust.

“We have been doing well keeping up with that,” he said. “Lead time has not been affected. We are not doing as much going out and just looking for problems, we are mostly just responding to complaints.”

Turchan also discussed the public works department, stating that the township was able to maintain about 215 miles of municipal roads, and worked on the transition to the new municipal complex and police department building.

And in the coming year, Turchan said, the department is looking to purchase additional equipment, reconstruct tennis and other courts, establish a maintenance program for a turf field at the municipal complex and construct solar panels at the senior center.

As for employees in the department, streets and roads lost a position for a public work project manager and laborer, while the library lost a library supervisor. In all other sections of the department, the staff was unchanged for 2011.

“The library’s other expenses are up because last year’s number was less than what was needed to function,” Turchan said. “We share costs with the county, so we budgeted more for utilities.”

In addition, Turchan said, sewer expenses are rising slightly because of a project planned for the Finderne section of town.

Finally, Turchan discussed the township’s capital budget with $1.88 million allotted for road improvements; $100,000 each for road sealing and sidewalks; and $145,000 for public works. The township has budgeted $0 for drainage.

As for road projects, the township is planning improvements to Vosseller Road, Meadow Road, Woodfield Road, Downey Road and others.

As for equipment, the public works department has line items in the budget for a new pickup truck with a plow, a dump body for a truck, an emergency generator at the senior center and some other equipment for a total of $145,000.

“The only other potential capital item is video conferencing equipment for municipal court,” Turchan said. “Theirs for the court system is failing, but we are looking at different options for the costs, so we are trying to find something cheaper.”

As for equipment purchases, public works director John Langel said the department is replacing one truck with another, and, instead of buying a whole other one, they are choosing just to replace the body of it.

“That’s cheaper, and we can make it livable instead of buying a whole new one,” he said.

Councilman Allen Kurdyla questioned what would happen if there was an emergency in the township in terms of drainage, with no money appropriated for it.

“They have some money for that, but we also have an eye on all our projects to see where they might come in under budget,” Bogart said. “Then the extra funds can be used."

Hayes asked how the township’s roads compare with other local towns, but Bogart said that cannot be quantified.

“I don’t think there is any better way to find out than just by driving around,” Bogart said. “I think we’re holding our own. It would be a nice to have a greater budget, absolutely, but we’ve decided to do quality over quantity. Some township do less expensive roads to do more of them, but then they don’t last a long time.”

Also related to the budget, the township council unanimously approved an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and establish a cap bank for future use. This ordinance is approved every year as a precautionary measure.

With the approval of the ordinance, the township can increase its budget for appropriations by 3.5 percent, rather than the state-mandated 2 percent. In this case, the township has chosen a 1.5 percent increase above the final appropriations allowed by the state, for a total of $441,385.74.

The money is set aside in a cap bank in case it is needed in the next two years.

“This allows us to put limits on how much money to put in if we have the need of extra funds,” Turchan said. “It allows us to expand our borders with the extra money, and it is just sitting in reserve for two years.”


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