For Immediate Release:
February 12, 2010
Freeholders to take budget to go ‘on the road’ again
2010 Monmouth County budget introduced
Public hearings at county libraries scheduled March 2 and 9
FREEHOLD – The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders introduced a $496 million budget last night, an increase of just 1.74 percent over last year.
Despite the increase, the proposed spending plan reflects a commitment to provide programs and services to an increasing number of residents who need them at a time when revenues are down due an economy that has yet to rebound from the recession.
“Governments at every level face extraordinary challenges,” Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry said. “Across the nation, growth has virtually stopped; real estate values have eroded and revenue is down. The tax base of Monmouth County has declined for the first time since 1993.”
“In the face of this grim reality our duty is not to complain or make excuses,” Burry continued. “It is our responsibility to find ways to do the business of government and do it to our own high standard and without placing a great burden on the taxpayers we serve.”
As introduced, the budget is up by $8,499,848, or 1.74 percent, and is among the lowest increases in five years. The amount to be raised by taxation is $305,500,000, up $10,715,848, or 3.64 percent. The county tax rate would be 24.1 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation, up 1.28 cents.
The county budget is tentatively scheduled for adoption on March 11, following a public hearing. Public hearings also will be held March 2 at the Monmouth County Library Headquarters, Manalapan, and March 9 at the Monmouth County Library Eastern Branch, Shrewsbury.
"This budget is a work in progress and we will continue to look for savings throughout the budget process leading up to the point where we adopt a spending plan,” Freeholder Deputy Director Robert D. Clifton said. “I expect we will find areas where we can cut some more.”
Clifton, who oversees the county’s Finance Department, said the budget picture would have been much different had the county not implemented the spending cuts that were begun in 2008 when financial reports began to forecast a slowing economy. Those steps included reducing departmental budgets, embracing shared services, instituting wage freezes and laying off employees.
“The county workforce has been reduced by 248 full-time and 34 part-time workers,” Clifton said. “Together with 47 reductions in staff at the Youth Detention Center come July 1, the county will have reduced its full-time staff either by layoffs or attrition by nearly 10 percent in the last year alone. That is a significant savings. It impacts pension contributions as well as health benefits.”
Spending cuts that began in 2008 helped with this year’s budget. In the fall of 2008, the freeholder board directed all department heads to hold back 5 percent of discretionary spending and overtime was restricted to essential services only.
In 2009, all departments were asked to cut their other expense budgets by 15 percent for a savings of $5.6 million. The freeholders also took the following actions in 2009:
- abolished Department of Health Care Facilities; transferred oversight to the two care centers;
- switched health insurance carriers, saving $1 million in administrative fees;
- restructured the Medical Examiner’s office (shared service), saving $200,000;
- eliminated the Summer Youth Program, saving $370,000;
- removed $4.1 million in capital expenditures;
- reduced overnight travel by county employees by 60 percent;
- suspended the Employee Tuition Reimbursement Program;
- capped increases to Brookdale Community College and the Vocational Schools at 4 percent;
- froze wages of 1,087 nonunion county employees, saving $2.4 million, and
- laid off more than 118 union employees who did not accept a wage freeze, and
- reduced reliance on leased space for county operations.
For 2010, the county continued its countywide hiring freeze whereby all positions are reviewed to determine if they can be abolished, consolidated or reduced to part-time. In addition, all departments were asked to reduce their budgets by 5 percent.
The freeholders also opted to pay its full pension obligation last year when the state allowed county and local governments the option to reduce their pension allocations by half. Had the county not kept up with its pension obligation, the payback in future years would be significant.
“Much hard work lies ahead to fashion a 2010 budget that will maintain essential services while minimizing the burden on Monmouth County taxpayers,” Freeholder John D’Amico said. “In anticipation of declining revenues and cuts in state aid, we will be required to perform major surgery on expensive line items, and we must be willing to reconfigure major institutions and programs.”
“Like last year, this budget reflects the difficult financial position governments everywhere are in due to the nation’s economy,” Freeholder Amy A. Mallet said. “I look forward to the budget hearings and hope that over the next few weeks we will find additional savings for taxpayers.”
“It has become increasingly difficult to meet the need of residents in the wake of this recession, when revenues are off and costs continue to rise, yet I believe we must continue to go over this budget very carefully to find additional areas where we can make cuts,” Freeholder John P. Curley said.
Despite an overall increase in spending, Monmouth County continues to rely less on taxes than most other New Jersey counties. As a percentage of the overall budget, Monmouth County’s taxes comprise 60 percent – behind Union, Hudson and Essex counties, which receive more in state aid.
By comparison, the amount of taxes as a percentage of the overall budget is 78 percent in Ocean County, 76 percent in Middlesex, 73 percent in Mercer, and 72 percent in Burlington. Monmouth County ranks fourth-lowest in this category among the 21 New Jersey counties.
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