Town Council Will Grapple Again With Tight Budget

Like an octopus spreading its tentacles, Montclair's tentatively approved $69.9 million budget will reach into all aspects of life for the town's residents, with cuts planned for the Montclair Arts Council, the Montclair Public Library, and the Montclair Community Pre-K, among other entities.

The Montclair Town Council will discuss the budget at its meeting Tuesday night. Check out the agenda.

The budget also translates into tax increases of about 6 percent for Montclair taxpayers, said Councilor Cary Africk, "which includes the nearly 11 percent increase in the municipal rate."

"And Montclair has huge debt," he warned, estimating the total at more than $230 million. "Little of it is being paid off and almost half of it is in short-term one-year notes."

The budget issue is being watched closely by residents. "Already our taxes have more than doubled since we moved here in 1996," said Mary Emanuelli, mother of four children.

For some taxpayers, adding salt to the wound is the fact that county taxes are being raised more than originally expected.

County officials have closed a $22.1 million budget gap caused by a reduction in state aid, but taxes will climb slightly more than first proposed. Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. presented a 2010 budget of $713.7 million in January, but then state officials cut $22.125 million in state aid in March.

But, according to a press release, DiVincenzo lobbied the governor and $16.8 million of the state aid was restored to the county. To make up part of the rest, the budget was reduced by $1.5 million through the elimination of all vacant positions and reduction of general operating expenses.

But taxes will be hiked by 2.8 percent instead of the 2.34 percent originally predicted, according to the release. That will raise an additional $1,454,300.

Montclair's proposed $69.9 million budget is expected to be formally approved this month. It slices municipal funding for the Montclair Public Library by $700,000, for the Montclair Community Pre-K by $90,000, and for the Montclair Arts Council by $20,000. Some council members say they are hoping to reduce those cuts.

At the same time, Montclair has gotten a waiver from state officials that will allow the 2010 municipal budget to surpass the state-mandated cap on tax levies.

Gov. Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney reached a deal Saturday to limit local property tax hikes to 2 percent a year, with a few important exceptions including debt-service payments and states of emergency. Any rises over 2 percent would have to be approved by voters. The plan will be considered by the Legislature on Tuesday.

"The 2 percent cap is disappointing insofar as the exceptions, which include health and pension increases, as well as debt," Africk said.

Seddick Meziani, professor of finance and economics at Montclair State University, said that the Town Council must make fundamental cuts instead of tinkering line by line with operating expenses.

"The town has to do something serious or else taxes will keep going up," he said. "They think people have money growing on trees. They need to start making some hard decisions."

For example, they might have to make changes to pension plans, he said, acknowledging that this would be an unpopular move.

When Meziani heard that Christie put a cap on tax increases, he felt relieved.

"I thought that maybe this would force the real people to take over and to make real decisions," he said. "But then I heard Montclair would be exempt and I became disappointed all over again."