Freeholders consider more cuts to budget

The Monmouth County Board of Freeholders is working on making additional cuts to the proposed $496 million county budget.

Specifically, according to a press release from the county, the freeholders want to reduce the amount to be raised by taxation.

As introduced, the budget is up by $8,499,848, or 1.74 percent. The amount to be raised by taxation is $305,500,000, up $10,715,848, or 3.64 percent. The county tax rate would be 24.1 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation, up 1.28 cents.

“Monmouth County ranks fourth lowest among all 21 New Jersey counties in the percentage of the budget that is supported by taxation,” said Freeholder Deputy Director Robert D. Clifton, who oversees the county Finance Department. “In Monmouth County, that figure stands at 61 percent. There are some counties that have as much as 78 percent of their budgets supported by taxes.”

To address the high costs associated with operating the Monmouth County jail, Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry will appoint a special independent panel to examine costs and recommend ways to reign in those costs.

“Staffing costs account for most of the operational expenses for prisons, whether they are public or private,” Burry said. “The main way of reducing costs is by cutting staffing expenses.”

According to the press release, the county eliminated 38 corrections positions last year for a current year savings of $413,659, including fringe benefits and allowing for overtime. Each year those 38 officers are not on the county payroll the savings increases exponentially. Next year, the projected savings from those same layoffs is $801,000; in 2012 it is $1.18 million, and in 2013 it is $1.59 million.

Among the recommendations the independent panel will study are the pros and cons of privatizing the jail. Currently, no New Jersey prisons are privatized, although Camden County is exploring privatization to address its overcrowding problem, according to the press release.

Spending cuts since 2008 include a 5 percent holdback of discretionary spending. In 2009, all department were asked to cut their budgets by 15 percent for a savings of $5.6 million. The freeholders took other action in 2009 that was designed to assist the budget situation.

For 2010, the county continued its hiring freeze whereby all positions are reviewed to determine if they can be abolished, consolidated or reduced to parttime. In addition, all departments were asked to reduce their budget by 5 percent.

“This budget is very much a work in progress,” Clifton said. “Because of the reductions made these last two years the county is in better shape financially than many other counties. However, I am confident these other cost savings will positively affect the county tax bill.”

In a statement he issued separately from the county’s press release, Republican Freeholder John Curley said he is gravely concerned about what he called the dire economic climate in New Jersey and Monmouth County.

Curley said he believes that under the present operation of most counties, including Monmouth, that sustainability of services will become impossible.

He said the county must work harder and more effectively to serve the needs of the taxpayers.

Among other action, Curley is calling for a salary freeze for all non-civil service employees, while requesting the unions to give back their fair share to the taxpayers; maintain a hiring freeze (layoffs through attrition); initiate furloughs on county employees until the county is on more sound fiscal footing; keep the work week at 35 hours. All departments that have gone to 40 hours should now revert back to 35 hours; mandate that employees pay 1.5 percent of their health benefits; halt third floor renovations in the Monmouth County Hall of Records; delay the construction of a new prosecutor’s office building; eliminate the extra layer of middle management bureaucracy that is now in place; and eliminate shared services that create deficits for the county.