[ back ]
COMMON GROUND - 07/30/2008
(by Anita Yarossi - OpEd Columnist - July 30, 2008)
The budget and other concerns
Ringwood adopted its 2008 budget last week. The final municipal budget came in at $14,413,920. The original budget had been amended to include added revenues and appropriations. Additional revenues totaled $194,880 including grants for recycling, drunken driving enforcement, alcohol education, and rehab and flu pandemic preparedness.
Also anticipated is the payment on the sale of borough property to the North Jersey Water District Supply Commission in the amount of $150,000, which will ultimately go into surplus. There was a very slight increase in municipal aid from the state. The increases in appropriations include an additional $65,728 for the Employee Group Insurance Plan and the dedication of the grant revenues listed above to their appropriate programs. The increased revenues resulted in a tax levy of $8,821,047, reduced by $87,038 from what was introduced in March. This reduction delivered a slight decrease in the percentage tax levy increase from last year and should show in the revised tax bill for next quarter.
Ringwood also adopted a bond ordinance appropriating $1,025,000, which will cost the taxpayers $49,000 as a down payment for various improvements. These include the re-paving of Carletondale Road, a new SUV for borough administration officials, new equipment for (the Department of) Public Works, improvement of the storm water drainage system, renovation of the public works garage and rehabilitation of the Borough Hall roof, construction of a retaining wall on Lakeview Avenue on the borough easement, new television cameras for Borough Hall, and other rehabilitation and installations along Lakeview Avenue, Robin Lane and Skyline Lakes Drive. This seems to be a reversal of the Republican campaign protests about borrowing, however valid and necessary some of these improvements in fact may be.
The tree removal ordinance was also adopted, without the added $200 licensing fee.
The burden of appeals will now fall on Acting Borough Manager/Borough Clerk Kelley Rohde’s desk as it has been eliminated from the council’s table.
The municipality has added two more policemen to its roster, bringing the total number of police to 21, plus four full-time dispatchers and seven part-time dispatchers. Rohde hopes to achieve the maximum amount of coverage with the minimum amount of overtime, with this staffing.
However, still unresolved are some very difficult issues faced by the residents of Upper Ringwood. The sinkhole in Roger DeGroat’s yard has no borough appropriations dedicated to its remediation, despite its danger to the community. Numerous go-rounds with the state agencies have proved to be fruitless, despite the governor’s original promise of a grant for just this purpose. At the last Community Advisory Group meeting, the governor’s office was represented by Jong Nee, who listened to the litany of complaints about state grants provided to the borough, but never appropriated for this purpose.
This is coupled with the unresolved issues facing the residents who have been displaced from their homes because of voids underneath their properties. These homes were built in the 1970s with a federal program under the auspices of the state. The residents have had to bear the brunt of grave historical mistakes that make every day continue to be filled with frustration in their lives. I am hoping that the governor’s office is listening and finds a way to cut through the red tape that has strangled the resolution of these problems.
[ back ]
