LIVING WITH TERRORISM III

Budget Chills

By Eugenia Vogel

The last Tuesday in January it was 60 degrees outside. Yet, there was a special chill in the air, a chill that did not assail our bones but our wallets. It was budget time for Englewood! The City is raising taxes and the County as well.

The impact of our national financial crisis is of paramount concern to the EHOA Board, so we have formed a Tax Watch Committee. Three board members, well seasoned in financial matters, are assessing ways to make our high taxes more bearable. Our goal is to locate areas where expenses can be cut or shared with other municipalities or the County. When completed, we will present our findings to you and to our City Council. Let’s face it, the recession has affected every homeowner without exception.

Our government in Washington must make our country safe, from our coastlines and skies to our borders. They must protect the infrastructure of every one of our cities and towns. Terrorism is not over. Our homeland security is a top priority and a major endeavor, and it will cost billions of dollars. There is no question that this expense cannot be spared, for the safety of America.

In times of terror and financial trouble our local government has the obligation, before it approves any proposed budgets, to separate expenses that are essential from those which are not.

In my opinion, firemen and police are essential for the safety of residents and the people who work here. During the City Council budget hearings I learned that we have 79 police officers and 63 fire personnel. The Police Department proposed a budget for about $8 million dollars and the Fire Department proposed a budget for about $4,700,000. These sums include gross salaries.

There were 200,000 visits to our library last year. Don Jacobsen proposed a budget for the library of about $1,500,000. This sum includes gross salaries. Mr. Jacobsen stressed to the City Council that the public restrooms in the library need repair.

We are now collecting $198,000 from Englewood Cliffs, who share our library services. Last year Englewood Cliffs paid $150,000. The Cliffs have always given Englewood a hard time in paying their fair share for use of our library. The good news is that from now on, under a new system, Englewood Cliffs residents have to use our library services. I was hoping that Mayor Fader, during his negotiations with Mayor Parisi, would have obtained at least $300,000 for Englewood. My hopes were based on the fact that our Mayor is a skillful litigator, and I thought he would be able to convince Mr. Parisi as smoothly as he convinces jurors, but no such luck. I am a bit disappointed the best he could do was to obtain $48,000 more from the wealthy Cliffs.

It was good to learn that we are saving about $150,000 by sharing leaf management with Leonia, which is done by a private company. Englewood is also collaborating with Leonia for snow removal as one example of recent cost saving regionalization measures.

The City also saved between $110,000 and $150,000 by closing down our animal control center and allowing the County to perform this function. The City has saved about another $150,000 since the County implemented the Social Service Board, which took that burden off the taxpayers.

The Department of Public Works proposed a budget of about $3,900,000. This includes gross salaries. The DPW is responsible for garbage pickup, recycling, snow removal, leaf pickup and property maintenance. Additional cost sharing with neighboring communities could bring this cost down. But the DPW has a strong Union and the privatization of these services may prove too difficult to achieve.

Mrs. Cherry, the Health Department Director, gave a lengthy presentation for their proposed budget during the last budget hearing. Three members of the Municipal Democratic Committee (where she also sits) accompanied her, as well as members of her staff, one board member and four of her close supporters. She also brought her wish list. The proposed budget is $635,000. We learned that the department has 14 ½ employees of which two are paid by a grant. Mrs. Cherry repeatedly said that this was her 28^th year of service to the City of Englewood. Her wish list included the construction of additional space for the Health Department and a third car. The department also mails about 40,000 newsletters a year. Is this truly necessary? During the hearing, City Council President Mitch Rosenberg said that the health educator for the TEEN REACH-TEACH Program is generously funded by Englewood Hospital. The hospital contributes between 50 to 75% of the costs of this program.

Englewood hospital offers quality services for the uninsured, which is funded by the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services Health Care for the Uninsured program. For adults they have 9 examination rooms, and for children 6 examination rooms are available. In the spring skin cancer screening is offered. In the Fall free prostate cancer screening is also offered and during the summer, blood pressure and cholesterol screenings during the City’s health fair “Englewood Day”. If you are interested you can check out their website at www.englewoodhospital.com for a calendar of events, free lectures, free screenings and education. I wish our Health Department could share more services with Englewood Hospital as the Teaneck Health Department does with Holy Name Hospital.

As the economy is sinking and Governor James McGreevey is calling for cost cuts across the board, we find the Health Department’s budget, and their additional requests, unreasonable. Bergenfield, according to the 2000 census, has a multicultural population slightly larger than Englewood. Yet Bergenfield’s health department has a budget less than half of Mrs. Cherry’s proposed budget! Bergenfield’s health department has 6 fulltime employees, a couple of part-time employees and a volunteer. They have a budget of about $275,000 including salaries. They have the use of two cars and if they need additional transportation they use their own vehicles and the employee receives mileage costs. The registrar doubles as board secretary.

Through the passage of time, the Englewood Health Director has reached an extraordinary salary level of $115,000 plus about 25% more in pension and benefits. Bergenfield’s senior health official receives a salary of about $66,000. Mrs. Cherry appears to be the highest paid health official per capita in the State and maybe the country. We will continue with our research in finding out how other local governments, with similar multicultural populations like Englewood, manage the budget of their health departments. It seems there is ample room for cost cuts or cost sharing in this particular area.

The ultimate decision in approving all the proposed budgets lies with our five City Councilmen.

Finally, I once again urge you to remain vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Above all, do not hesitate to contact police if you see or hear anything that may be suspicious. Terrorism breeds dangerous derivatives such as copycats and revenges. Violence invites violence.

Let’s do our part to prevent it.

Eugenia Vogel

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