Council Passes 2011 Municipal Budget, Mayor Calls it 'A Great Start'

As expected, the Fort Lee Mayor and Council passed the 2011 municipal budget Thursday evening at its regular meeting.

The total anticipated amount to be raised by taxation was $57,609,950.92, and the total anticipated general appropriations for 2011 was $67,681,823.15, according to the budget as previously introduced. As Mayor Mark Sokolich had previously vowed, the municipal tax increase represents less than 1 percent.

Those numbers changed slightly Thursday when the council also approved an amendment to the budget that did two things: re-allocated $25,000 in 2011 state aid in light of the Governor’s state budget and inserted a $178,000 grant from FEMA for fire equipment that was awarded after the municipal budget was introduced.

Sokolich said Fort Lee is "probably among the first communities in the state of New Jersey to adopt a budget."

"We’ve always had a vision of where we were going with our budget," he said. "We always knew where our cost-saving measures would reap for us and we could adopt it very, very quickly because we have that type of budget. We have control of our finanances and we’re very, very proud of it."

Borough Auditor Steve Wielkotz has previously noted that the total  budget for 2011 represents a 1.52 percent increase in appropriation or “a little over a million dollars” and a tax levy increase of 0.89 percent.

“That’s $37.20 [per year] on the average residential unit assessed at $465,000,” Wielkotz said at a work session last month. “This budget, as proposed, is over $2.5 million under the appropriation cap and a little over $2.9 million under the tax levy cap. You’re not going to have many municipalities that can stand up and say, well we’re raising municipal taxes $37 for the year."

Sokolich said at Thursday's meeting that the increase is the lowest "in many, many years in Fort Lee."

"Our controllable expenses are down by $128,000 … our salaries have been reduced by virtue of this budget by $1.8 million," Sokolich said. "So for the most part, everywhere we’ve had an opportunity to control things, we’ve reduced them."

Sokolich said Fort Lee's been called a "model community" and one "that should be followed by other communities in Bergen County, and I’m also proud of those observations."

"It wasn’t easy," Sokolich said. "And as a result of our efforts, we’re very happy to be able to deliver the budget that we’re delivering. Are we done? No. We’re when we hit zero. We’re done when we issue refund checks. And we’re done when we hit reductions. But I think it’s a great start, especially in this economy."

Fort Lee resident and president of the Fort Lee Republican Club David Cohen disagreed with Sokolich's assessment of the budget however. After the meeting, Cohen told Patch he would  “like to see Fort Lee go lean and mean."

"And there’s elements in this budget that I certainly don’t think are lean and mean," Cohen said. "One of the most glaring things is the now $8 million of non-paid vacation and sick days. In my world, in the private sector, if you’re not sick, you don’t get paid. It just doesn’t make sense. You don’t have to go to Washington to see big government. You can see it right here in Fort Lee.”

Also on Thursday evening’s agenda, which began with a proclamation related to the Greater Fort Lee Korean-American Association are the following:

Introduction of Ordinance 

• Ord. #2011-10--Amending Chapter 316-1 Public Record Fees

Public Hearings (all pass unanimously)

• Ord. #2011-7--Amending Chapter 410-49 Zoning, Section (E) Sign/Façade Review Committee to Include Staggered Terms of Appointment
• Ord. #2011-8--Amending Chapter 388, Sections 14 and 69 Placement of a Handicapped Parking Space by 1010 Harvard Place
• Ord. #2011-9--Ordinance to Exceed the Municipal Budget Appropriation Limits and to Establish a CAP Bank(N.J.S.A.40A:4-45.14)

Consent Agenda (passed unanimously)

• CA-1 Payment of Claims
• CA-2 Authorizing Full Time Hiring of Sam Ghali as a Communications Technician, Grade 14, Step A, for the Communications Department, Radio Repair Division – $48,513.00 Annually
• CA-3 Authorizing Title Change for Doris Coleman from Building Maintenance Worker to Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds, Grade 15 - $62,604.00 Annually
• CA-4 Authorizing Person-to-Person Liquor License Transfer From Aster Corp. to Plaza Diner Liquor, LLC at 2045 Lemoine Avenue
• CA-5 Authorizing Settlement of Tax Appeal Litigation Entitled Simmtech America, at 2160 North Central Road, Block 6253, Lot 1, vs. Borough of Fort Lee for Tax Year 2011
• CA-6 Endorsing Support of Federal Legislation-HR 676 The United States National Health Insurance Bill (Expanded and Improved Medicare for All)
• CA-7 Requesting that the State Legislator and the Governor to Exempt the Reserve for Uncollected Taxes from the 2% CAP
• CA-8 Authorizing the Purchasing Consultant to Prepare Specifications and Advertise for Bids for an Asphalt Milling Contract (Two to Five Years)
• CA-9 Accepting Boswell’s McClave’s, South Hackensack, New Jersey, Engineering Proposal to Perform Design Services For Improvements to the 12th Pump Station – Fee Not to Exceed $6,000.00
• CA-10 Accepting Boswell’s McClave’s, South Hackensack, New Jersey, Engineering Proposal for Construction Engineering and Inspection Services for Improvements to the Palisade Terrace Pump Station – Fee Not to Exceed $10,000.00
• CA-11 Accepting Boswell’s McClave’s, South Hackensack, New Jersey, Engineering Proposal for the Design Phase for Roadway Improvements to Linwood Avenue – Fee Not Exceed $12,500.00
• CA-12 Awarding Bid to K&D Contractors, LLC, Kenilworth, New Jersey, for a Pre-Action and FM-200 Fire Suppression System for the Police Department’s Computer and Communication Areas - $86,600.00
• CA-13 Awarding Bid to Rapid Pump and Meter Service, Inc., Paterson, New Jersey, for Palisade Terrace Pump Station Improvements - $134,390.00
• CA-14 Awarding Bid to New Jersey Fire Equipment Company, Green Brook, New Jersey, for Self Contained Breathing Apparatus for the Fire Department - $167,500.00
• CA-15 Awarding Bid to Bay Head Investments, Inc., Berlin, New Jersey, for the Purchase of a 2011 Ambulance - $269,744.00
• CA-16 Awarding a Non-Fair and Open Contract to Global Pharmaceutical Benefits, LLC, Newark, New Jersey, to Provide Pharmacy Benefit Management Services to the Borough - $69.68 Per Participant Per Year
• CA-17 Awarding a Non-Fair and Open Contract to Rx Reins, Inc. FBO Pan American Life Insurance Company, Palm Springs, California, to Provide Aggregate Stop Loss Insurance to Supplement the Borough’s Prescription Drug Coverage – $15,749.25
• CA-18 Authorizing Amendment to the Current Fort Lee Ambulance Corps Stipend Guidelines Which Will Allow for Out-of-Town Residents to Qualify Without a Waiting Period
• CA-19 Awarding One-Year Contract to Virtual Town Pages LLC, Paramus, New Jersey, to Create a New Web Site for the Police Department - $3,499.00 Plus $149.95 Monthly for Maintenance