CRANBURY: Hopefuls offer views on township issues

[Cranbury Press]

CRANBURY: Hopefuls offer views on township issues
Thursday, October 22, 2009 7:29 PM EDT
By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer

CRANBURY — With the election just weeks away, Township Committee candidates are weighing in on issues affecting the community, including budgeting, library planning and farmland preservation.

This year’s candidates, Democrats Dave Cook and Glenn Johnson and Republicans Dan Mulligan and Jay Taylor, are vying for two three-year seats on the Township Committee. All are running for committee seats for the first time.

The Cranbury Press asked the candidates to respond to a series of questions, and their responses follow:

On the topic of budgeting, Mr. Cook said he believed the township could benefit from a more corporate model of spending: continuing with its hiring freeze, instituting a salary freeze and changing some positions from full time to part time.

”I would (also) evaluate the professional offices of the township to keep the costs down on professional fees and reduce the incentive for fee building for professional services,” he said. “These actions will not just reduce spending but will reduce debt as well.”

Mr. Johnson said since 9 percent of the budget — state-mandated expenses not offset by state revenues — are beyond the township’s control, and another 14 percent of costs are offset by revenues, the only line items left for examination are those that lie outside these two areas. He said the township is facing difficult times, especially since property owners in the warehouse districts are expected to be filing tax appeals, and for that reason, any expenditures not deemed a necessity should be deferred until the economy stabilizes.

While Mr. Johnson cautions against unnecessary expenditures, he said the Township Committee acted responsibly in its debt management.

”Our debt is already being managed properly,” Mr. Johnson said. “It stood at over $25,000,000 in 2006, and today is just under $22,000,000. The township refinances the debt for smaller interest rates as often as the market allows and the terms of the bonds permit. Our municipal debt is rated AAA and is 35 percent of the maximum permitted by state law.”

Mr. Mulligan said the municipality may need to focus more on cutting discretionary spending, such as the thousands of dollars it expends each year on unneeded studies and assessments from the township’s professional services such as planners and engineers.

He also suggested leveraging the existing in-house township employees, board members and other residents of the community who may want to get involved to help save money for Cranbury’s taxpayers.

”We need (to) hold the line on our municipal payroll and long-term pension obligations by having in place now and in the future a hiring freeze for all township positions unless a position is determined to be critical to the service of our community,” he said.

Mr. Taylor suggested Cranbury actively manage and bid its professional services, minimize its use of private staff, explore shared service agreements where possible, concentrate on long-term planning and utilize the township’s pool of experts who may want to volunteer their time for assessments and studies. Actively tracking expenses and creating an “accountability factor” also may curb spending and open communication between residents and local leaders, he said.

”I want to see a monthly or bimonthly report made to the committee regarding our town’s spending so the committee and our residents can track the finances during the year,” Mr. Taylor said. “If we are transparent in our spending, then, inherently, we’re making it easier for residents to hold us accountable and also to provide us with ideas for ways to save costs.”

With a $21 million in debt and affordable housing obligations threatening to tack on another $13 million to the tally, taking its ’obligation into consideration, the municipality needs to look for ways of increasing revenue, attracting new ratables and rethinking some of its zoning regulations, he said.

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