How I would lower taxes
The first thng we would need to do is look more closely at the
capital budget. Capiltal Budget = new debt = new
taxes.
Almost every year, some of the town's bonds mature in which in
turn lowers the amount ofdebt service. In Berkeley
Heights, what typically happens is that the Council looks at the
maturity of these bonds as an opportunity to write additional
debt.
The residents are used to paying these payments so it can basically
go unnoticed. In reality each maturity is an
opportunity for a reduction in taxes.
When elected I would lower capital spending and not re-up on all
maturing debt. The town's debt should be taken
seriously.
For the record, this year the Town Council doubled capital
Spending. They said yes to every single line item that
was asked for by any departent. They did all of this on
top of the massive debt grab for the municipal building.
In addtion to being more strategic with the capital spending, I
would also not increase headcount at every turn. This
year there was extra budget and rather than provide some tax
relief the town hired two new employees. Maybe this was
warranted, but maybe we could have used that opportunity,
especially in a year with so much debt to provide a bit of tax
relief.
Also in the years where I looked at the budget, revenues for the
town are understated and expenditures overstated, to the point that
it was clear they were over budgeting. My thought with
budgeting: If there is extra money, it will be
spent.
I would push for much tighter budgeting with proper estimations for
revenues and expenses.
I also would not vote to pass the ordinance to extend the
Appropriations Cap Bank to 3.5%. Why does our town
continuously need to go beyon the max recommended amount to the
point it needs to pass an ordinance to extend its spending
limits? They shouldnt.
Jeanne Kingsley and the current town council have stated in public
meetings that the ordinance to raise the cap bank was "state
mandated" and that they have never used it and would only use
it in a catastrophe so catastrophic that it hasnt happened
yet. When Jeanne was challenged about the state
mandate, she took back her statements.
However, town documents clearly show that Berkeley Heights does use
the cap bank more years than not. This leads me to the
believe that Jeanne and the Council do not fully understand what
they are passing nor pay attention to how the money they were
elected to manage is spent.
I would certainly take a very close look at any budget and/or
meaningful expenditures and make sure that a significant portion of
the town are getting the value from that spending.
I clearly see ways to cut the budget 5%-10%. Tax cuts
are possible, they just require work. I am willing to
put in that extra time.