EDISON — As the members of the Edison Township Council considered the 2018 municipal budget last week, Councilman Joseph Coyle let his passion, concerns and suggestions spill out on the table.
For an hour, Coyle essentially asked for thoughts and direction from his fellow council members during a work session meeting on July 23. He inquired if there were funds in the budget for an economic development coordinator and/or funds to market the township to bring in more ratables. He also asked if there are additional funds in the municipal clerk’s budget for an aide to the council of the fifth largest municipality in the state.
“I’m asking for $50,000,” he said.
Coyle, who said he has expressed his thoughts and suggestions to Mayor Thomas Lankey, said he took issue with the mayor presenting the 2018 municipal budget on July 18. Coyle was not present at the July 18 meeting. Edison’s new budget year began July 1.
“It’s a very busy time,” he said, noting there were five people in the audience. “I think it would be nice serving the taxpayers to have the budget presentation in June.”
Lankey presented the $137.98 million spending plan, which he said continues what he started when he took office in 2014.
“When I took office our goal was to try to stabilize the township,” he said on July 18. “We needed to bring in ratables. Obviously we had a lot of tax appeals that were going on. Infrastructure was crumbling. We needed to spend a lot of money and bring in assets of the town, but also the functionality of the town coming into the 21st century.”
The 2018 spending plan is up $4.13 million, or 3.09 percent, from the 2017 budget of $133.84 million.
Municipal taxes on a home assessed at the township average of $179,000 will be $2,338, up $32.20, or 1.4 percent, from last year’s $2,306. The impact on an average home is $2.58 per month.
The total revenue is $44.64 million, up $2.22 million, or 5.23 percent, from $42.42 million.
The amount to be raised by taxation is $93.34 million, up $1.91 million, or 2.10 percent, from $91.42 million.
The total ratables is $7.14 billion, up $47.84 million, or 0.67 percent, from $7.10 billion.
The municipal tax rate will be $1.306 per $100 of assessed valuation, up 0.018 cents, or 1.4 percent, from $1.288.
Councilman Alvaro Gomez, chair of the council’s Finance Committee, said a lot of the increases are due to contractual obligations, health insurance and pension costs.
Council President Ajay Patil and Coyle asked about using some of the $9.35 million in Edison’s surplus fund (savings) for tax relief.
However, Lankey and Gomez said they have to remain cautious on the use of surplus.
Business Administrator Maureen Ruane said surplus is a combination of different numbers dropped to the bottom line that are not spent. The numbers, she said, come in as increases in revenue or come in with additional or omitted taxes.
Gomez said this year a little more surplus was used as revenue in the budget, about $1.2 million more than 2017. He said he agreed with Coyle that the focus should continue to be on economic development and bringing in revenue.
He said he would caution on a proposed economic development director, which was a failed move in former Mayor Jun Choi’s administration. Gomez noted the council does not have the authority to assign an administrative function.
“The mayor has the right to either hire a person or not hire the person, so it is outside our scope and responsibilities,” he said.
Gomez said he was not opposed to a marketing plan, however, the plan would need direction before putting money toward it.
The councilman said Lankey and his administration, with the help of the council, has moved Edison in the right direction.
“We have received $100 million [in ratables] over the 2014 ratables,” he said.
Regarding an aide to the council, Coyle said he has not been fully satisfied with the work Township Attorney William Northgrave has provided to the governing body.
“I think you are great for the township and provide for the township and mayor, but some of the simple things … I think your plate is too full for immediate results,” he said.
Northgrave said he tries to serve the council as fully and completely as he can.
“I’m the township attorney appointed by the mayor and approved by the council,” he said. “There may have been some disagreement among the mayor, his administration and the council, but I don’t think it has colored my decisions.”
Councilman Sam Joshi said he believed there was some validity to Coyle’s suggestions.
“Towns like Newark and Jersey City, I’ve seen they do have staffers,” he said. “In my personal opinion, I don’t feel we need it.”
Joshi said that as a proponent of getting young people involved in local government, he would suggest bringing in interns.
Northgrave said if it is a paid internship, money will have to be allocated in the budget. If the position is not paid, he said officials would have to make sure none of the work requested to be completed by an intern violates the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Patil said the council will sit down and discuss Coyle’s suggestions and present them to the mayor.
