Borough Attorney: Closed Meetings, No Minutes OK

I received the following letter from the Dumont Borough Attorney with regards to closed session meetings by the Finance Committee, chaired by Carl Manna.

Read letter here

Now compare with the Open Public Meetings Act provisions here.

For the record, in 2009 there was only one budget hearing, held immediately before the vote by council. In other words, the decision was already made; the residents had little chance.

However, residents were not without fault. Less than a handful asked questions. Thanks everyone for making M&C's job way too easy.  I guess everyone else had no problem paying more taxes last year.

Will it be just as easy for the M&C to do the same this year? That's up to Dumont residents.  As of this writing, this blog's unscientific poll indicates an overwhelming majority feel our elected officials "are committed to reforming public contracting law".  How does that reconcile with outlandish rumors of certain rank and file borough employees receiving 15, even 30% salary increases, for talent retention?  Does that level of trust extend to paying whatever tax levy increases are recommended, sight unseen?

What Grows in Darkness?

As reported by the Finance Committee Chair (cue to 16:15), as of March 10, the borough received 22 foreclosure letters.  This raises the foreclosure total to 34 year to date. 

Yet the borough administrator reported in February (cue to 64:00) that "delinquencies are down" and "tax payments have gone up to 98.75%... a record in years".

The Finance Committee Chair continues (cue to 18:05), that the committee has already met five times, "looking at each line item and talk about... responsibilities going forward". 

Sounds like official business, right?

Yet a recent inquiry to the Borough Clerk as to the status of the next Finance Committee Meeting returned the following response:

The budget committee is scheduled to meet Monday. There will not be a quorum and no official business will be conducted. Therefore, it is not subject to the Open Public Meetings Act and not open to the public.

Two things stood out:

• No Quorum;
• No Official Business.

For the first point, when asked to confirm whether the committee comprised of three council members and inquired as to what constituted quorum, the response:

A simple majority of 4 members of the Governing Body constitutes a quorum for the purposes of the Open Public Meetings Act.

Huh?  Does that mean that when the full membership of the Finance Committee meets, it will never achieve quorum and thus not subject to the Open Public Meetings Act?

A further request to confirm whether there were three members in the Finance Committee has been unanswered as of this posting.

For the second point, if "looking at each line item and talk about... responsibilities going forward" does not constitute official business, what is?  Personally I do not care if council members want to shoot the breeze, but why meet at borough hall?  This seems to contradict the Sunshine Act provisions.

Why make such a fuss?

On March 16, when significant parts of Dumont was struggling with a power outage caused by the weekend storm, borough finance were far from everyone's mind.  Yet it was at this sparsely attended public meeting that the Finance Committee Chair reported that municipal revenues have decreased 23.15%, necessitating a proposed 9.99% municipal levy increase for 2010/2011.  Of course, we now know the assumptions of no change in state aid and keeping the surplus intact were far too optimistic.

How about the statement that taxes collected have increased?  Here is a pie chart of 2009 municipal revenue distribution.  If "delinquencies are down" and "tax payments have gone up to 98.75%... a record in years" (cue to 64:00), how could we have a overall revenue decrease of 23.15%?  What entire categories of revenue have we lost?  Even with the 20% loss in state aid, the share is still 7% (from 9%) of total revenue. Something does not add up here.  Does this make sense?

Would you vote on a 3.5% tax increase sight unseen, let alone 10%, especially if prices for consumer goods have decreased over the last year?

There is absolutely no way that in this down economy any additional tax levy requiring passage of a separate resolution be allowed without full disclosure!!!

Whatever happened to the mayor's pledge to open and transparent government?  Is there only openness and transparency when convenient? 

If there is nothing to hide, then prove it.  Show me the budget details, in advance.

Attention Finance Committee Chair Carl Manna, are you listening???

State Aid Figures

State aid figures for 2010 have been released.
The distribution to Dumont is as follows:

Aid to Municipality
2008:  $1,747,332
2009:  $1,703,648
2010:  $1,355,252 (-20% from 2009)

Aid to Board of Education
2008:  $8,882,768
2009:  $9,326,906
2010:  $7,361,216 (-21% from 2009)

Local Finance Notice 2010-8 notes an interesting provision to the aid:

In addition, budget language regarding State aid distribution is being modified to reduce aid payments to those municipalities that use formula aid reductions as an add-on to the levy cap calculation. In other words, any amount of state formula aid reduction used as a levy cap exception [N.J.S.A. 40A:4-45(b)(2), as shown on Line A-10 of the Levy Cap Calculation Workbook] will result in an offsetting decrease to CMPTRA/ETR formula aid payments.

In related news, despite past proclamations of tax payments being up from 2009, it appears they may have been merely semantic sommersaults from borough officials.  Borough revenues overall were reported down 9% from last year.

Enough of the silliness.  "We've cut to the bone on our budget' is no longer an acceptable explanation.
Let the residents see how far the budget should be cut.  After all, we're paying for most of it.

Also from Local Finance Notice 2010-8:

The March 31 introduction date is now modified only to the extent that the introduction date for budgets that cannot be introduced by March 31 is extended to the next regularly scheduled governing body meeting after March 31.

Looks like the budget will be introduced at the next M&C meeting April 6.  Will Finance Committee Chair Manna make the deadline?  I would not hold my breath...

Guide to Contracting Ordinances in Other Municipalities

As preparation to the upcoming Ordinance & Resolution Committee meeting on Wednesday March 24th at 6:30PM, the following are some muncicipalities in Bergen County that have passed a version of the Model Ordinance supplied by the nonpartisan group Citizen's Campaign:

Emerson;
Fair Lawn;
Hasbrouck Heights;
Hillsdale;
Oradell;
Ramsey;
Ringwood;
Saddle River.

With so many examples and predecessors, writing an ordinance that suits Dumont and incorporates lessons learned should be easy, right?

Now that you have access to legislation enacted by our neighbors in the county, see for yourself whether it makes sense to take as long as they are in getting a draft ready for review.

Certainly there is no lack of expertise as we have an attorney and experts in financial operations and construction management on board.

We are looking to your leadership, Mr. Stylianou.

Too Much Sunlight?

Even though the Mayor, Council President and committee members could be heard calling on public participation in future meetings, it will not be happening in the next meeting.

Nevermind what was seen and heard as to the next Ordinance and Resolution Committee meeting scheduled on Wednesday March 10.  According to the borough clerk:

At the last Ordinance meeting it was decided to schedule the next Committee meeting March 24th. It will be a regular Committee meeting with only the three committee members attending-not the public.

How could I miss the recording?  Looks like the backroom talks began as soon as I shut off the camera and left the room.  Apparently dissuading other council members from attending was not enough.  Now they want the public out too.  So much for openness and transparency...

In the darkness, hopefully whatever they make will not stink and be closer to wine than vinegar.  Is that a reasonable request?

Miss the meeting?  It may be the last ordinance and resolution committee meeting recorded this year.  See the video for yourself.  Is there any wonder why?