FOC deals with state cuts, taxes

by Gabe Donio, Gazette Staff Writer

HAMMONTON—The town’s Fiscal Oversight Committee (FOC) continued to deal with a variety of cuts and taxes being issued by the state government during this budget season, including a possible increase in the garbage tax from 60 cents to three dollars a ton. Discussion of the decreases in state aid, increases in taxes and the possible effects of Governor Jon Corzine’s push for consolidation of government services came during the meeting of the FOC on March 10.
According to FOC Chairman Don DiDonato, the state has pushed approximately $400,000 in pension burden onto the town, and the municipality saw its state aid decrease $200,000 this year.
“We were pretty fortunate. Some towns were completely zeroed out,” DiDonato said.
Municipalities with populations under 10,000 received larger cuts in state aid this year, as Corzine continued pushing a plan for consolidation and shared services between municipalities.
“One of the other things the governor is looking for is merging police services,” DiDonato said.
DiDonato said the average household in Hammonton is paying approximately $1000 toward the police department. Corzine has said that he would assess towns that are using the New Jersey State Police for their policing, such as neighboring Folsom, $280 per household for the service.
“We could save $720 on a home assessed at $150,000. This is something that would take a year or two to phase in, if we even considered it. The town would talk to the state police about using the new police department as a barracks, and we would talk to them about giving our personnel first preference for hiring,” DiDonato said.
FOC member Rick Amos questioned whether or not the plan would save the town money during a longer period of time.
“I don’t know if it would be $720 when it’s all said and done,” Amos said.
Questions also arose about the level of the service if the police department was replaced by the state police.
“Would they be able to handle our town’s smaller functions, like the police do now?” FOC member Patty Palmieri asked.
FOC member Anthony DeMarco said he had seen police services delivered on the county level in Jacksonville, Florida, and that there had been a significant reduction in taxes.
“It’s not like this has never been done before. There are a number of towns that use the state police instead of their own police department,” DiDonato said, adding that the police budget had increased 15 percent a year in recent years.
Other than discussion, no action regarding the police department’s budget was taken during the FOC meeting.
DiDonato also said that the municipality was notified earlier in the day on March 10 about a new statewide trash tax of $3 a ton, a significant increase compared to the current 60 cents per ton. Town officials are currently attempting to verify if the new tax has been implemented, and what the total effect on the tax rate will be.
“We had budgeted $20,000 for this line item, and now it could be $100,000 because of this new tax,” DiDonato said.
As a result, the FOC discussed options for reducing the amount of garbage generated by the town, including having the municipality collect its own recyclables and ending its contract with the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA). DiDonato stated that the town could leave its ACUA contract with a few months’ notice, and a new program would not be instituted for four to five months.
A program that would see trash pickup alternated with recycling pickup every other week, with recycling toters given to each resident was suggested.
“If you’re putting more in the recycling bin, then you’ll be reducing trash,” Amos said.
The move would reduce regular trash collection to every other week, however.
“The initial scream will be that you’re picking up trash once every two weeks instead of every week. But you have a large container, and you can have two containers,” Amos said.
“It’s just a matter of educating people,” Palmieri said.
“What’s concerning me is the motive behind the state’s tax. Is it to really help the environment or is it because they are finding another place to tax?” Amos said.
DiDonato said he felt the plan for trash and recycling pickup was beneficial to the town because there wasn’t a large cost associated with its implementation. The committee agreed to investigate the plan, and inquire about whether or not the same sanitation truck could be used for collecting garbage one week and recycling the next.
Ultimately, the plan could mean cost savings for local taxpayers, DiDonato said.
“We won’t save it this year, but we’ll save some by the fourth quarter, and set it up for savings next year,” DiDonato said.