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Politics & Government

Freeholders Grapple With County Budget

Cuts likely, county manager blames governor's budget cuts.

On Thursday, March 18, the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders met to discuss the 2010 executive budget.

The executive budget on the table totals $469 million, a $11.6 million increase from 2009. According to County Manager George Devanney, most of the money will likely have to be raised through tax levy. The budget reportedly meets the state cap and is designed to avoid future layoffs.

Despite the increase, county officials said they have made several cuts, resulting in $7.7 million in savings in the 2010 budget. About $4.7 million was saved by 103 job vacancy eliminations, layoffs and retiree position eliminations and savings of more than $1 million by increasing employee contributions to healthcare plans.  The most recent increase of $11.6 million, Devanney noted in a recent letter to the Freeholder Board, is due to costs and increases beyond the county's control.

During Devanney's presentation to the freeholders at the March 18 meeting, he stated that Gov. Chris Christie's proposed budget cuts will become a burden to county and municipal governments and Boards of Education.

"Union County faces more than $10 million in cuts," he said. "School districts are grappling with the prospect of widespread layoffs and program cuts. The county is not exempt as our vocational technical school had their surplus funds raided by the state and now have been informed they will suffer an additional $1 million loss in state aid."

In addition, Devanney said $4 million has been removed by the state from a successful prisoner rehabilitation program. The state also took back funds previously allocated for the redevelopment of Elizabeth's Oakwood Plaza. A $16 million deficit will now fall on Elizabeth and Union County taxpayers. The county will also be subject to additional cuts that will affect a number of human services programs.

"In light of this, Union County took steps last year to close our budget gap and put county government in a better position for the year's budget," he said. "However, the state cuts will place new pressures on county government."

Throughout the course of the budget hearings, he added, the directors of each of the county's departments will outline and present the cuts. He concluded by saying he hoped the county would receive promised information from Christie that will aid in handling on costs for things such as pension benefits and contracts. The ideal situation is that the information would be received while the county is working through this budgetary process.

Departments included in the budget include the Departments of Administrative Services, Engineering, Public Works, & Facilities, Finance, Human Services, Parks and Community Renewal and Public Safety. Also included are the Board of Elections; schools superintendent, Board of Taxation, along with the constitutional officiers of county clerk, sheriff and prosecutor.

During the hearing, Brian Riordan of the Department of Correctional Services, addressed his department's challenges. He stated that the $4.2 million in cuts proposed for his department could result in them being unable to afford programs that were previously available to the inmates. He also addressed the issue of overtime costs and operating expenses.

"In 2008, we spent over $6.5 million in overtime," he said. "This was due to overcrowding and population levels. In 2009, we spent $6.4 million, but only $6.1 was budgeted.  We're budgeted that same amount for 2010."

To illustrate the increase in man-hours, he said 41,000 additional hours were worked in 2007 and 123,000 in 2008. Riordan also discussed salary levels of officers working without contracts and the jail's kitchen renovation project.

Other speakers included county Sheriff Ralph Froehlich, county Finance Director Lawrence Caroselli  and county Counsel Robert Barry. Subsequent hearings will be on March 24 and 25. The final vote on the 2010 Executive Budget is scheduled to will take place in June or July.

On the revenue side of the ledger, the county recently announced it will implement a $4.9 million Green Jobs grant that is designed to train people for jobs in the field of green energy. Moving forward, said Devanney, the county plans to find ways to continue to cut costs, increase economic development to create jobs and economic growth, and find new sources for revenue.

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