BYRAM TOWNSHIP COUNCIL MEETING - MAY 10, 2010
CALL MEETING TO ORDER - The Mayor called the meeting to order at 8:05 p.m.
OPEN PUBLIC MEETING STATEMENT - Adequate notice of this meeting has been made in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, NJSA 10:4-6.
ROLL CALL
Councilman Olson, here; Councilwoman Raffay, here; Councilman Rafferty, here; Councilman Thompson, present; Mayor Oscovitch, here; Township Manager Joe Sabatini, CFO Theresa Vervaet and Municipal Clerk Doris Flynn were also present.
FLAG SALUTE
Mayor Oscovitch reviewed the process of handling defeated school budgets.
· The Byram Township Mayor and Council received notification from Rosalie S. Lamonte, Ph.D, Executive County Superintendent of Schools regarding the defeated school budgets for the Byram Township School District and the Lenape Valley Regional School District in letters dated April 21, 2010.
· The letters informed it is the responsibility of the municipal governing body to certify the taxes to the County Board of Taxation.
· The Governing Body has two options:
1. Certify the original amounts which appeared on the ballot, or
2. Certify a reduced amount, which however, may not be less than the local share required by N.J.S.A 18A:7F-5. The law contains a required local share which results in a minimum tax levy in the amount of $6,542, 409 for Lenape and $8,194,689 for Byram.
· The Municipal Body’s decision must be in the form of a resolution and should be forwarded to the Board of Education and Executive County Superintendent of Schools no later than Wednesday, May 19, 2010.
· If there is a recommended reduction in the base budget amount, the resolution must identify the specific line-item reductions.
o The BoE is NOT bound by the municipal officials’ specific line-item reductions.
o The BoE is ONLY bound by the total amount of the reduction in the tax levy.
o The municipal officials ultimately have no control of the BoE on their decisions of how to implement the recommended reduction of the tax levy.
· If the Governing Body does not certify taxes for the base budget, or in the event the governing bodies comprising a regional school district in the case of Lenape Valley certify different amounts, the Commissioner of Education shall then certify the tax levy to the county board of taxation.
· Both BoE’s provided a copy of a 4/23/10 Memo provided to them by the Executive County Superintendent of Schools. Of the items outlined, the following were key points:
o Have less formal meetings, question and answer sessions, to support the groundwork for a Governing Body Resolution.
o Governing Body CANNOT reduce Debt Service Tax Levy.
o If the Governing Body fails to certify the tax levy, the State in conjunction with the County Office will set the levy and the local BoE will lose local control which can be the reduction/elimination of the following:
§ Courtesy Bussing
§ Full day K to half day K
§ A/P (advance placement) courses
§ Art/Music
§ Clubs/Sports
§ Any item that is not required by State Law/code can be reduced or totally eliminated from the budget.
Lenape Valley Defeated School Budget
Joe Sabatini and a subcommittee comprised of Councilman Rafferty and Councilwoman Raffay worked together with Lenape Valley Board of Education, Netcong and Stanhope to come to a favorable resolution. The following is a summary:
Last Year the County Superintendent of Schools suggested a reduction of 1-1.5% of the total tax levy.
This would range from $98,687 to $140,530.
Ø 2.5% increase of the tax levy from 2009-10 is: $225,209
Ø Advertised Levy increase is 4% or: $360,334
Ø Required decrease to achieve 2.5% is: $135,125
Key Points from April 29 Joint Meeting with Governing Bodies of Byram, Netcong, Stanhope and LV BoE:
Ø Everyone will take a wage freeze for 2010 estimated at $190,000. Additional state aid as result of wage freeze is estimated at $16,000 (FICA).
Ø Teachers union contract Expires this year.
Ø Expecting approximately additional revenues of $95,000 as result of changes to Chapter 2, Public Law 2010 regarding 1.5% base pay contribution. These revenues could not be anticipated in 2010-2011 school budget.
Recommendation:
Ø Reduce tax levy by $150,000 which will reduce the 2010-2011 school tax levy to $210,334 or 2.4%.
Ø Use breakage to bring back Level 6 cuts (outlined on staff reductions sheet) that were initiated as a result of the defeated budget.
Ø Other programs and instructions will be restored with any additional breakage.
Motion was made by Councilman Rafferty, second by Councilman Olson to open to the public for comments on the Lenape Valley Defeated Budget.
Joanne Smith, 57 Lake Drive, asked what the tax levy would be to the average homeowner, and how much of a savings would it be. The original tax levy was $66.00/average assessed home and now it will be $36.00.
Skip Danielson, 18 Hunters Lane, congratulated Lenape Valley Board of Education, the teachers and the Council for doing a great job in handling this.
Paul Tracy, member of the Lenape Board of Education, thanked the Council for working with the Board of Education. He stated that Netcong had met last Thursday and passed the resolution.
Motion by Councilman Rafferty, second by Councilman Thompson to close to the public.
Resolution 58-2010 – Reduction of Tax Levy – Lenape Valley Regional High School Board of Education. Motion by Councilwoman Raffay, second by Councilman Rafferty to adopt this resolution.
Councilwoman Raffay recused from discussion on the Byram defeated school budget and left the meeting.
Byram Defeated School Budget
Joe Sabatini and a subcommittee comprised of Mayor Oscovitch and Councilman Olson met with representatives of the Byram Board of Education on several occasions. Below is a summary:
Summary Information:
2010-11 Proposed Local Tax Levy $10,114,946
Last Year the County Superintendent of Schools suggested a reduction of 1-1.5% of the total tax levy.
This would range from $101,149 to $151,724.
Ø 2.5% increase of the tax levy from 2009-10 is: $243,154
Ø Advertised Levy increase is 4% or: $388,805
Ø Required decrease to achieve 2.5% is: $145,651
Key Points from meetings (April 29, May 5 & May 7) with Byram Township Board of Education:
Ø BoE still was proposing that any reduction of the levy by governing body will require the school to close the facilities in the evening, reduce athletics and co-curricular activities. This was presented as a $50,000 savings.
Ø Discussed advertised budget for Unemployment Compensation of $400,000. The Business Administrator reported her association advised to budget for 52 weeks of unemployment. Research through the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development concluded maximum benefit amount for New Jersey’s unemployed workers is 60% to the maximum ($600) for 26 weeks. Further it was determined extended benefits are paid from a combination of federal and state funds. Fifty percent of the benefits are paid from federal funds and 50 percent are paid from the New Jersey Unemployment Trust Fund. In the last meeting with the BoE the Business Administrator reported after further confirmation with her association she only needs to budget for 26 weeks. This was estimated at a $190,000 reduction of the budget for Unemployment Compensation.
Ø Camera equipment for buses is not a budgeted expenditure for 2010-2011. The expense will be covered under the 2009-2010 budget.
Ø If all employees (Certificated = Teachers, Non-certificated = Support Staff, and Administration) took a wage freeze for 2010 it is an estimated savings of $285,000.
Ø Teachers Union was approached by the sub-committee of the governing body and discussed the possibility of a wage freeze.
Ø At last meeting provided notification that a teacher has announced retirement that could contribute to a savings of $100,000; if this teacher is not replaced.
Ø The BoE is planning to meet to Thursday, May 13, 2010 to publicly discuss the Council Resolution and present final tax levy with final accounts.
Recommendation:
Ø Reduce tax levy by $174,946 which will reduce the 2010-2011 school tax levy to $213,859 or 2.2%.
Ø Use breakage to replace retiring teacher and bring back staff. This will lead to additional savings since it will not require additional amounts for unemployment compensation.
Joe Sabatini stated that this is approximately a $42.00 reduction on the average assessed home. He stated that the subcommittee could have cut more but didn’t so that Byram could hire back and replace the people who were going to be cut.
Councilman Olson stated that it was a difficult process. He would like to see the Byram Board of Education follow the Council’s recommendations and make the designated cuts so that people could retain their jobs. Councilman Olson stated that he would like to see a Council representative attend the Board of Education meeting on Thursday night to personally make the recommendations outlined in the resolution.
Motion by Councilman Thompson, second by Councilman Rafferty, to open to the public. All members were in favor.
Harvey Roseff, 33 Sleepy Hollow Road, congratulated the Lenape Board of Education on great team work. He did express his concerns about the Byram Board of Education and did not feel they were good negotiators.
Sherry Bulgar, 59 Ash Street, spoke on behalf of the teacher’s union and explained their position and why the teachers did not offer to take a wage freeze.
Marie Kovac, Byram teacher, commented that she understood the concerns of the taxpayers, but gave additional insight on the role the teachers play at the Byram schools and how much they contribute to the children of Byram Township.
Joanne Smith, 57 Lake Drive, asked what would be the average increase to a taxpayer. Joe Sabatini stated that originally the average increase was $180 and it has been reduced to $138.
Skip Danielson, 18 Hunters Lane, congratulated the teachers on all their efforts and hard work. He did commend the Manager and Council on all their hard work and hopes that the Board of Education follows the Council’s recommendations.
Katerina Moklak, 22 Carpenter Road, stated that she had a tremendous amount of respect for the teachers, but feels in these tough economic times something has to be done. She agrees with consolidation and regionalization and stated that sometimes you just have to make cuts.
Motion by Councilman Olson, second by Councilman Rafferty to close to the public.
Resolution No. 57-2010 - A motion was made by Councilman Olson, second by Councilman Rafferty to adopt this resolution. The Mayor asked if there were any comments from the Council.
Councilman Rafferty thanked Councilman Olson and Mayor Oscovitch for all their hard work on the subcommittee. He stated that the teachers are doing a wonderful job, but they are taking the hit. Integrity should start with the Board of Education.
Councilman Olson commented that the subcommittee had met with representatives from the teacher’s union last week and was presented with a lot of facts about the teacher’s contract and salary guides. He enjoyed the conversation and learned a lot. He feels there is a lack of trust between the teachers, the Township and the Board of Education. Councilman Olson stated that he felt a letter from the Manager should accompany the resolution stressing the fact that they should follow the cuts recommended by them so that they could hire back the teachers who were being laid off. He would also like to see consolidation of districts.
Mayor Oscovitch commented on the informative meeting between the Council Subcommittee and Sherry Bulgar and Barbara DeLeu. This has been a difficult process, and the Mayor also would like to see the Board of Education follow the Council’s recommendations on the reduction of specific line items.
Councilman Thompson thanked everyone for their hard work on the Lenape Valley and Byram subcommittees. He thanked the LVR Board of Education for working towards a favorable resolution. He thanked the Byram teachers for doing such a great job. He stated that the Board of Education members are elected by the people, and if the residents are unhappy, they should make a change.
ADJOURN
On the motion by Councilman Olson, second by Councilman Rafferty, and with all members in favor, the meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.
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Doris Flynn, RMC James Oscovitch, Mayor
Township Council Meeting Minutes 2 May 10, 2010