Deputy Clerk, Stella Ward, announced that pursuant to Section 5 of the Open Public Meetings Act, this meeting has been advertised in the Home News and Tribune and that the next public meeting would be held on Monday, January 27, 2003 at 7:30 p.m.

Roll call by Deputy Clerk Ward showed the following answering present: Councilmen Baker, Calogera, Greene, Hoff, Maher, Redmond, Testino, Councilwoman Panos, President Butler.

RESOLUTION NO. 29

BILL LIST

BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, New Jersey that:

WHEREAS, the Business Administrator has the responsibility of approving all bills and vouchers subject to preaudit and control; and

WHEREAS, the Director of Finance is responsible for the preaudit, the disbursement of all monies and the control over all expenditures to ensure that the budget appropriations are not exceeded; and

WHEREAS, the Finance Committee of the Township Council has satisfied themselves in respect to the bill listing of January 13, 2003 that there exists a detailed bill or voucher supporting each payment and there is indication that goods or services have been received or rendered.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge that the bill listing of January 13, 2003 as approved by the Business Administrator after preaudit and control by the Director of Finance and after review by the Finance Committee be spread on the minutes in the amount of $18,712,858.43 (Accounts Payable).

Moved by Councilman Baker, seconded by Councilman Greene and so ordered on the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmen Baker, Calogera, Greene, Hoff, Maher, Redmond, Testino, Councilwoman Panos, President Butler.

NAYS: None.

RESOLUTION NO. 30

BILL LIST

BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, New Jersey that:

WHEREAS, the Business Administrator has the responsibility of approving all bills and vouchers subject to preaudit and control; and

WHEREAS, the Director of Finance is responsible for the preaudit, the disbursement of all monies and the control over all expenditures to ensure that the budget appropriations are not exceeded; and

WHEREAS, the Finance Committee of the Township Council has satisfied themselves in respect to the bill listing of January 13, 2003 that there exists a detailed bill or voucher supporting each payment and there is indication that goods or services have been received or rendered.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge that the bill listing of January 13, 2003 as approved by the Business Administrator after preaudit and control by the Director of Finance and after review by the Finance Committee be spread on the minutes in the amount of $684,478.43 (Payroll).

Moved by Councilman Baker, seconded by Councilman Hoff and so ordered on the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmen Baker, Calogera, Greene, Hoff, Maher, Redmond, Testino, Councilwoman Panos, President Butler.

NAYS: None.

RESOLUTION NO. 31 Denied

BILL LIST

BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, New Jersey that:

WHEREAS, the Business Administrator has the responsibility of approving all bills and vouchers subject to preaudit and control; and

WHEREAS, the Director of Finance is responsible for the preaudit, the disbursement of all monies and the control over all expenditures to ensure that the budget appropriations are not exceeded; and

WHEREAS, the Finance Committee of the Township Council has satisfied themselves in respect to the bill listing of January 13, 2003 that there exists a detailed bill or voucher supporting each payment and there is indication that goods or services have been received or rendered.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge that the bill listing of January 13, 2003 as approved by the Business Administrator after preaudit and control by the Director of Finance and after review by the Finance Committee be spread on the minutes in the amount of $71,912.41 (Overtime).

Moved by Councilman Baker, seconded by Councilman Calogera and so denied on the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmen Baker, Redmond, President Butler.

NAYS: Councilmen Calogera, Greene, Hoff, Maher, Testino, Councilwoman Panos.

Prior to the roll call vote the following discussion took place:

Councilman Calogera: Do we have a freeze on overtime? The figures from animal control and the arena utility are prior to the enactment of the freeze?

Councilman Redmond: This is the December 19 payroll period. This (overtime) figure is very high.

Mr. Shah: Under the PBA contract we have to pay accumulated comp time after sixty days, money which was paid to some during this pay period. We no longer allow accumulation of comp time which was a past practice.

Councilman Redmond: This reflects comp time payouts that the accounting department deems necessary under the statutes?

Mr. Shah: Once the 60 days during which they have not used comp time has passed, they must be paid.

Councilman Testino: If we adopt the budget tonight, we will have a certain portion of overtime, correct?

Mr. Shah: With respect to the $71,000 for December 19, this is not related to the comp time pay out, but to the snow removal.

Councilman Testino: Please define the increment of overtime for the budget that we are about to adopt.

Mr. Shah: The amendment takes that money (the additional money that we had anticipated to cover this comp time) out of the budget.

Councilman Testino: Do we have enough in the straight overtime to cover last year's overtime?

Mr. Shah: You reminded me that we don't do an overtime comparison until we adopt the budget, and this is not a part of the package. I believe that we don't have a problem in other departments, but the police department will exceed the budgeted overtime.

Councilman Testino: I have been voting "no" against overtime and have pledged to continue until we adopted a budget. I will go back to voting "no" against the overtime if we go over the accounts that we set forth in tonight's budget. For the history that we are to vote on tonight, I am going to vote "no", but if the budget gets adopted, I will change my vote to "yes" because that means that we would have resolved to incur that much overtime.

Mr. Shah: You always have voted on overtime after the budget is adopted assuming that the overtime is in the budget, and we are going to cover it. I have indicated that in most of the departments (other than police), we will have sufficient money to pay out overtime which, as in the construction department, is chargeable to escrow or special services which is always approved. The arena is the area in which we have overtime which is budgeted. However, the police department exceeds the amount allocated in the budget. I believe that this year will be no different from any other. I will provide you with the comparisons.

Councilman Testino: If we adopt the budget tonight, you will have a budget to compare this to, and in that budget we would have made allowances for a certain amount of overtime. If everyone votes for the budget tonight, they are approving that much overtime on an annual basis. There will be a line item for each of the overtime in which we will have exceeded normal hours.

Councilman Greene: We receive an informative bi-weekly payroll report. When accumulated overtime is paid out, may I have a list of who and how much was paid? I want to know who the high overtime earners are.

Mr. Shah: I will provide that information.

RESOLUTION NO. 32

BILL LIST

BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, New Jersey that:

WHEREAS, the Business Administrator has the responsibility of approving all bills and vouchers subject to preaudit and control; and

WHEREAS, the Director of Finance is responsible for the preaudit, the disbursement of all monies and the control over all expenditures to ensure that the budget appropriations are not exceeded; and

WHEREAS, the Finance Committee of the Township Council has satisfied themselves in respect to the bill listing of January 13, 2003 that there exists a detailed bill or voucher supporting each payment and there is indication that goods or services have been received or rendered.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge that the bill listing of January 13, 2003 as approved by the Business Administrator after preaudit and control by the Director of Finance and after review by the Finance Committee be spread on the minutes in the amount of $767,511.78 (Payroll).

Moved by Councilman Baker, seconded by Councilman Greene and so ordered on the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmen Baker, Calogera, Greene, Hoff, Maher, Redmond, Testino, Councilwoman Panos, President Butler.

NAYS: None.

RESOLUTION NO. 33 Denied

BILL LIST

BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, New Jersey that:

WHEREAS, the Business Administrator has the responsibility of approving all bills and vouchers subject to preaudit and control; and

WHEREAS, the Director of Finance is responsible for the preaudit, the disbursement of all monies and the control over all expenditures to ensure that the budget appropriations are not exceeded; and

WHEREAS, the Finance Committee of the Township Council has satisfied themselves in respect to the bill listing of January 13, 2003 that there exists a detailed bill or voucher supporting each payment and there is indication that goods or services have been received or rendered.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge that the bill listing of January 13, 2003 as approved by the Business Administrator after preaudit and control by the Director of Finance and after review by the Finance Committee be spread on the minutes in the amount of $170,098.25 (Overtime).

Moved Councilman Baker, seconded by Councilman Calogera and so denied on the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmen Baker, Calogera, Redmond, President Butler.

NAYS: Councilmen Greene, Hoff, Maher, Testino, Councilwoman Panos.

Prior to the roll call vote the following discussion took place:

Councilman Calogera: Is there comp time built in to this?

Mr. Shah: This includes the payment of accumulated comp time as a part of the agreement made last June. The personnel department will provide a list of recipients.

Councilman Calogera: How much straight overtime is included?

Mr. Shah: I would guess that there is about $40,000 in regular overtime.

Clerk's Report.

MONTHLY REPORT OF COLLECTIONS OF ROSE-MARIE SARACINO, CLERK

The following represents the collections I have made during the month of December 2002:

DOGS:
3177-3180 37.00

LICENSE:

Wrecker/Tower
Old Bridge Collision 100.00
Circle Automotive 100.00
L.J.'s Auto Body 100.00
B&B Towing 100.00
Boyce Towing (2) 200.00

Sale of Christmas Tree
Vander Horn 100.00
Ray's Excavating 100.00

Limousine
#322 Beyderman 50.00
#323 Freedom Limousine 50.00
Vending Permit
Candy - $5.00 Each
Laura's Restaurant 5.00
905.00

PARKING PERMITS
1604-1693
79 Permits Issued - 11 Voided #'s 1613, 1621, 1632, 1648, 1654, 1658, 1659, 1660, 1666, 1676, 1686
1,975.00

BINGO/RAFFLE
BA 21-03 St. Bernadette's 500.00
BA 22-03 St. Bernadette's 520.00
RA 23-03 Old Bridge Soccer 40.00
RA 24-03 St. Thomas Church 10.00
RA 25-03 Holmdel Foundation 10.00
BA 26-03 St. Ambrose Combined Societies 490.00
BA 27-03 St. Ambrose Holy Name Society 500.00
BA 28-03 St. Ambrose Altar Rosary 500.00
RA 29-03 Cheesequake Baseball Assoc. 30.00
2,600.00

SEARCH
15 -2002 10.00

MISCELLANEOUS
Photocopies - Copies 119.44
Late Fee - DOG 5.00
Reimb Polling Place (General Election) 450.00 574.44

Total: $6,101.44

Motion

to accept the Report of the Clerk made by Councilman Baker, seconded by Councilman Greene and so ordered on the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmen Baker, Calogera, Greene, Hoff, Maher, Redmond, Testino, Councilwoman Panos, President Butler.

NAYS: None.

Report of the Attorney.

Councilman Baker: I would like a clarification on the portion of our agenda "No. 5 Preliminary public comments to council, subject to the following conditions and restrictions: (1) Limited to one (1) subject for a maximum period of three (3) minutes". Is that something that we can change, or something that the council must abide with?

Attorney Smith: That is something I have to defer to the clerk.

Deputy Clerk Ward: There is an ordinance that is being reviewed to change the speaking portion of the council meetings.

Councilman Baker: If we allow a speaker to speak longer than three minutes, we would be in violation of an ordinance? I suggest that we don't do that. We don't want to be rude to anyone, but I intend to enforce the ordinance. I need to know enforces the ordinance.

President Butler: The Deputy Clerk will advise the public when their time is up.

Preliminary public comment.

Ms. Clavering: Expressed the need for non-disabled residents to not park in the accessible parking space which are reserved for those people with disabilities.

Guest

Irene Clavering

Ms. Clavering: Expressed her annoyance with loud music playing throughout all hours of the day and her discovery (via conversations with Joe DeFilippo at the county level) that there are options for dealing with a noise problem. However, the judge in Old Bridge will not hear a case unless the noise level has been measured with a decibel meter, and she encouraged the township to purchase one.

President Butler: We will follow up with a check on the price of a meter.

Councilman Redmond: Doesn't our noise ordinance describe . . . ?

Ms. Clavering: The judge would not act on this situation.

Ms. Shepler: This is a difficult issue, and the fact that the judge will not hear a case like this is not unusual because it is one person's word against another's. The meter provides definitive proof. The county has a noise meter, and I will reach out to Mr. DeFilippo to determine the correct mechanism as to how to get someone to respond to a complaint. I will defer to Chief Palumbo as to whether his officers would have the ability to take a noise meter to someone's home or apartment.

Mayor Cannon: Have you made your landlord aware of this problem?

Ms. Clavering: The landlord has been made aware of this some time ago.

Councilwoman Panos: I received a phone call from someone who stated that diesel trucks start up at 4:00 a.m.

President Butler: Administration will do the follow up, and we will find out where to purchase the meter.

Eugene Farrell - Tax Sales

Mr. Farrell: I sent a memorandum on my position predicated upon the facts provided me which was faxed to the Clerk's office. My understanding was that was disseminated to each of you. I am very explicit in my thoughts. This issue has been evolving in so far as the information I have been provided. There is a concern about the utilization of a percentage of the collection to drive the reserve for uncollected taxes down and utilize the accelerated tax sale as a strategy to insure the collection of these property taxes. Is that my understanding?

Councilman Redmond: We wanted to know its effect on the tax rate, i.e., if we were using a particular collection rate, and the accelerated tax sale would change that rate and thus change anticipated revenues in the budget.

Mr. Farrell: Your tax revenue is the predominant revenue source in balancing your budget. In traditional accounting you would have an allowance for doubtful accounts which would be a mechanism to insure sufficient cash collected to cover your operating expenses. In New Jersey they inflate your non-cash expenses which create the ability to collect more taxes. That is the basic theory as it relates to the reserve for uncollected taxes. With an accelerated tax sale, you are having two tax sales, one of which is related to delinquent taxes. The monies related to those delinquent taxes are deducted from the reserve for uncollected taxes and that drives down the reserve for uncollected taxes. You have a spike in your revenues. This is a one-shot revenue enhancement. In addition to that you have to have (after that mechanism is started) an accelerated tax sale in each year following, or this could have a detrimental impact on your budget as it relates to revenues.

The information which I provided you includes guidelines from the State of New Jersey and information related to an accelerated tax sale. After my discussion with Himanshu tonight, my understanding is that you want to use a percentage of collection (99%) which will drive the rate down and utilize the accelerated tax sale to insure collection of delinquent taxes in anticipation that you don't collect 99%. The downside to that is, as stated to the mayor and incorporated in my memo to you, that you have to have a real good working knowledge of your tax ratables within your community. Your ratables are very fluid. One of the things that was detrimental in 1992 was that the tax ratables in the town were very overstated. We had to borrow $3 million. The percentage of collection went from the mid-90's down into the low 90's, and these attributed to a substantial deficit.

Keep in mind that this is a mechanism in place which is a one-shot, non-recurring event which will decrease the reserve from uncollected taxes and minimize the tax levy. When you file for discretionary aid, you don't want to use these types of mechanisms because it minimizes your ability to get additional aid. I was taken back by the amount of aid you received. In 1992 one of the biggest issues was that we had the ability to apply for extraordinary aid then, but did not file within the time constraints. The annual financial statement was done incorrectly. We had a substantial deficit, and we were precluded from getting extraordinary aid, and the amount of the tax increase was . . . Based upon the history the township experienced, I would figure that with the tax increase that we received from the schools, plus the amount of the tax increase that we were getting in the 2002 budget, I thought we would have a better shot at getting additional extraordinary aid. That did not occur. The only recommendation as it relates to the accelerated sale is that this is a mechanism that should be looked at on an annual basis.

The DLGS has had no municipality that has experienced a detrimental impact after using the accelerated tax sale. The problem is that the township experienced an anomaly last year because we collected at 99%. Historically, we never achieved that goal; we have been between 97% and 98%. We have had substantial growth in the community and substantial commercial ratables. If we were to go forward utilizing a 99% factor with anticipation of utilizing the accelerated tax sale and guaranteed receipts from delinquent taxes, two things would be detrimental with that - one would be if you had ratables which filed appeals, and the second, if no one purchased the liens. The revenue has to be in the form of cash. If you were to go to that extreme, I believe this would be an aggressive position. To get this approved by the DLGS, you have to complete a document which is incorporated in the annual financial statement (sheet 25B). In addition to that there is another document which is a projection detailing what your anticipated impact will have if you were to implement an accelerated tax sale.

Before coming to any conclusion, and you want to make a budgetary decision, you should go through this process.

Councilman Calogera: We experienced the anomaly of a 99% collection rate for two years - interest rates being much lower and between refinancing and sales being very high. You have to have your taxes paid before you can sell or refinance. That may not be the case going forward. If we are not going to collect at 99%, and that drops down, can you inform me how that will relate to future requests for extraordinary aid in a negative way. I want to start with the state earlier this year to push more money out of them in the way of extraordinary aid.

Mr. Farrell: The extraordinary aid is predicated on fiscal duress. The percentage of collection is utilized in calculating the reserve for uncollected taxes. It develops a cushion insofar as the ability to build extra in anticipation of not collecting 100% of taxes. If we keep pushing the reserve for uncollected taxes higher and higher, and we don't reach that goal, and we have large tax appeals, taxpayer bankruptcy or other anomaly, what happens is that you are going to get a lower percentage of collection, and there will be a deficit in the revenue item as it relates to the collection of current taxes. That could create a deficit. That is what happened in 1991-1992.

My concern is that the town has grown. We have residential ratables; we still have a bubble as it relates to the residential real estate market. My biggest concern is the very large commercial ratables that we have. We are experiencing bad economic times. Home Depot is going through bad times nationwide. They are going to look at their expenses. I came from a Big Six firm which had a whole practice within our firm as it relates to the commercial department to help these entities minimize their profit. They are going to look at their expenses and the income that is being derived. Your assessor can explain this to you. When you go through that capitalization factor, they can drive that down. This is something to look at.

When you go through the exercise, you have to do the two sheets because this will impact on receipts from delinquent taxes. I would not push the percentage up to 99%; I would push it up at a more reasonable rate which is reflective of what the township has experienced over the last five years. I have been associated (with the township) since 1991, and this is the first time we have had a 99% collection rate. We are going to experience significant tax appeals which will have a budgetary impact. If we go under the theory that we can enforce a 100% collection rate, your hammer is the tax sale, but you have to sell the liens. If you hold the lien, there is not cash or receipts from delinquent taxes. You would either sell the liens or commence foreclosure proceedings on some of those properties.

Councilman Maher : Do you have any input as this would have related to impact on this budget that we are going to adopt tonight if we went through this accelerated tax sale?

Mr. Farrell: No. The accelerated tax impact analysis would have to have been done in conjunction with the residential estimate sent to the DLGS. They review that to be sure that what you are doing is prudent.

Councilman Maher: The determination would have been the completion of Sheet 25A - has that ever been done to see how this impacts our budget?

Mr. Shah: For the reasons that Gene alluded to and the memo from the tax collector, in the past we have not used an accelerated tax sale because we have a good collection rate, and as I indicated most of the community uses this when they have a problem with the collection rate, and they have continued to do that because they have no choice. We never contemplated completing those pages or doing the evaluations because we are near a 100% collection rate. Kathy (Silber) composed an e-mail based upon your information. Woodbridge has 8,000 properties on a tax sale before they went to an accelerated tax sale, and because of that it went to 250. They needed help in doing so. That is a valid reason for this law. We are continuously growing our collection rate and have been increasing our reserve for uncollected taxes. I recall that in 993 the appropriation for reserve for uncollected taxes was over $5 million. When I arrived in 1993 the budget had not been adopted. That budget had over $5 million for reserve for uncollected taxes. We are not at $3 million. That is why we have never considered this option.

Councilman Maher: Since this is a new financial strategy, I suggest we review this in preparation of the budget. I assume that 50% of the taxpayers pay their taxes through their mortgage. Are there any big landlords or taxpayer who are in arrears?

Mr. Shah: We are at 99% collection rate. Most of our delinquent taxes are from homeowners. We will start evaluating. Even with the use of an accelerated tax sale, I assume that Gene (Farrell) is not recommending going to a 100% collection rate in budgeting our reserve.

Councilman Maher: I did not hear him say that, but I think this is something that we should look at in preparation of the next budget. Can you go through the scenario and do a financial impact as it would have related to this budget for us? Please complete sheet 25A.

Mr. Shah: We will prepare those papers.

Councilman Maher: Let's look at this to improve our revenue. It sounds like this is a fairly new innovative "out of the box" type thinking, and I think we should be looking at this.

Councilman Greene: I am happy that there is not a move to use this in the current budget since the material we have states that "because of the complexity and range of issues needed to conduct and implement a tax levy sale, the municipality should have a team of officials participate in the work. Among others, that team should include the chief financial officer, certified tax collector, etc.". This is going to take time, and I believe should not be done based on a brief conversation.

There is that reserve in the budget as a cushion because we know that we are not going to receive taxes from everyone. The question was "Why don't we anticipate more?". Why don't we say that instead of the 98%, let's say 99(%)? At the time we said there was a little bit of risk to that because if the money does not come in, we would have a hole. We have a method which would help us guarantee that the money will come in because we will have an outside individual purchasing that variable (that unknown amount). If we spend the time and go through this, is it prudent to do this in order to cut the real estate tax rate?

Mr. Farrell: We have had three instances which have not had detrimental impact. It should have been done for one client last year, and they had one significant taxpayer who did not pay their taxes. This would have minimized the reserve for uncollected taxes. The DLGS has not had any bad experiences. Determining the fine line is knowing the demographics of the tax base. Depending upon the volatility of the tax base, this could have a detrimental impact in subsequent years. You must discuss this with the assessor and evaluate the risk associated with this predicated upon the volatility within the ratables, and then you make a prudent business decision.

Councilman Greene: If we do this once, we have to continue to do this. Otherwise, in the following year there will be a revenue gap.

Mr. Farrell: You are getting 10% to 18% on your money as it relates to delinquent taxes. You are giving up quite a bit when you have the two tax sales. You have to weigh that in conjunction insofar as the impact this will have on the tax rate going forward.

Councilwoman Panos: On these accelerated tax sale things, that is not selected. Once you pass that, that has to be for everybody in the town who owes a tax. It just cannot be a big corporation. It might be 50% of the homeowners.

Mr. Farrell: You cannot discriminate.

Councilwoman Panos: If you have the average person who owned their home, maybe got laid off due to downsizing, etc. where it might take them six months to catch up, they no longer have that under this. Is that correct? This is accelerated . . .

Mr. Farrell: That is one of the issues at hand. The leverage that you have is the tax sale mechanism. You are shorting the amount of time an individual has to come up with that cash. One of my clients passes a resolution to not collect current year taxes in that year in a tax sale so that they get an extra year. The taxpayers in this community are willing to pay that extra 10% because it is cheaper to pay the interest on that, and they utilize that cash in their businesses. This is a very wealthy community. You are not to deduct this on their tax return. They write a check incorporating that dollar amount to the extent it is being subsidized. That is the reverse of what we are trying to do. They get a high percentage on the return for delinquent taxes. They have a substantial surplus. You have to have the cash to do that.

Councilman Calogera: It is legal usury.

Mr. Shah: I would not want to do a tax sale; I would want to retain those because of the high interest that we can collect. Three years back we anticipated money in the budget to do what Gene has indicated, and we did buy liens. Our investment can generate 1.5%. This is a significant loss of interest income.

Mr. Farrell: You have to have the ability to do this. If you have substantial tax increases, and you cannot afford the ability to do this, that negates the strategy. You would be precluded.

Councilman Calogera: Do we have an estimate of what we take in on tax sales - 18% for the first three or six months?

Mr. Shah: If we do a tax sale, and a third party lien holder buys this lien, we no longer collect that interest. The interest is now earned by the third party lien holder. A tax sale may also help a homeowner because when there are lot of people who want to buy the lien, they drive down the rate of interest.

Councilman Maher: With respect to Kathy Silber's memo dated January 9, you state that you are not recommending an accelerated tax sale. You mention that this process creates a large volume of paperwork for collections in the finance department. You don't really mean that.

Ms. Silber: Under time constraints, I normally sell about one hundred liens. If I were to sell five hundred liens, it is five times as much work. It does not make a difference if the lien is $1 or $100,000. My staff has been reduced. Paperwork does not scare me. This is multi-faceted - selling, recording, subsequents paid, the redemption. There is a five or six part paper trail that goes with each lien sold. There would more if someone is caught short. On May 11 the one quarter could go to tax sale adding more volume to the number of properties that could be sold.

President Butler: I believe that this is something that we should look at, and I understand that there is a process to this. If I remember correctly, you can only do this a couple of times - once in December and in the month before the beginning of the next fiscal year. Once you get the process together and submit the information to the DCA, what time frame could we expect?

Mr. Farrell: They want to move the budget forward, and as long as it is prudent and reasonable, I don't foresee this as a problem. You filed for extraordinary aid, and this is a last resort step.

President Butler: In the future what should we do differently to get more aid in relation to our need?

Mr. Farrell: It is critical to lobby. You have to present a good case. They take the economics of not only the municipality - it is based on the tax base. We have a client whose school taxes increased 32 cents, and this year, predicated on the information of increase of state aid, the school taxes are increasing 80 cents (relating to special education). They want $250,000 in extraordinary aid. There is a situation as it relates to solid waste. Several counties built landfills. The state was to refund the debt, and they are not. One of my clients lost $8 million. I cannot stress enough the importance of building a good, sound case, and you have to use all the information impacting the tax base.

Councilman Calogera: From the time that someone is behind in their taxes and the time that we sell a tax lien, do we make any interest?

Mr. Shah: If you are delinquent on your taxes, you accumulate interest from the day the taxes are due for each quarter. When we do a tax sale, if there is a buyer of that lien, he will buy not just the delinquent tax, but the interest accrued to that date. The first $1500 is at 8%. Anything above that is 18%.

Councilman Calogera: We are capturing that payment between the time they are in arrears and the time we go to tax sale.

Mr. Shah: If no one buys the lien, we would foreclose the property although the attorney we hired has been sitting on this for the last four years. If we foreclose the property, we collect the entire property for the amount of taxes. That is another benefit.

Hearing

1. ADOPTING SFY 2002-2003 BUDGET

Motion

to adopt the SFY 2003-2003 Budget made by Councilman Testino, seconded by Councilman Redmond. No Vote Taken.

President Butler opened a public portion.

Mr. Rao: On behalf of the taxpayers of Old Bridge expressed outrage to the increase in the current budget and his disappointment that the council could not lower the budget by more than 2 cents. He suggested that a volunteer review and make recommendations to the budget and that the budget should be held until that time.

President Butler: Explained that the budget could not be reduced any lower without the risk of cutting services or lay offs.

Mr. Shah: Explained that if the budget were not adopted at this time, estimated tax bills would have to be sent out which will cost the township an additional $10,000.

Councilman Testino: A volunteer should have come forward between July and now.

Councilman Calogera: We invite you to volunteer during the next budget process.

Mr. Sohor: This budget is a disaster even though it was cut a little. It is money that the average person cannot afford. This increase is unnecessary. This disaster was forecast many times over in the past. This budget increase is a result of past actions of this council. Over the last few years this council has decided to go against the advice of Messrs. Shah and Farrell who advised against the use of one- time revenues. I voted against those budgets and gave that same advice. The use of one-time revenues and the failure to address the spending was coming back to haunt us and will come back next year with a major increase.

What has this council done to put artificial rate reductions in? We have used excess tax monies that have been collected and spent it all. We have sold properties to other agencies of this township government. We have moved money around and not brought in real money. One-time revenues that reduce the tax revenue have to be made up the following year. This council has pulled out of a JIF that was paying us dividends annually and giving us a low rate. That revenue helped keep the tax rate down is now gone. There are no dividends coming in because we have switched that money around. We also have lost our favorable credit situation. You all know that Standard & Poors has now put us on a credit watch which is the first step toward a credit down grading.

In November I heard wailing and moaning about why certain reserve funds were not funded. We have unfunded liabilities in the millions of dollars for sick and vacation time. The prior's council funded those reserve funds on an annual basis to put money away for the day when these amounts have to be paid. Under Councilman Maher as finance committee chairman we stopped funding the reserve funds. You have made an agreement with the bonding services that we are going to start funding these reserves. When we stopped doing it, we were told many times that we were going to lose our bond rating which was as good as it could get and saved us a lot of money on financing. We did lose this rating in a very deliberate series of actions year after year that undermined the quality of our finances. The responsibility falls on the average homeowner who now has to foot the bill.

We had surplus that was more than adequate. Your "mantra" was that we had to cut the surplus - give it back to the people. We gave it back in form of unreal tax decreases. It has to be made up again. We have complained about the state not giving us extraordinary aid. You forget that you voted in a major increase to the mayor's budget for additional hiring which you had to reverse and even took a vote to remove that action from the minutes so that it could disappear.

I am positive that the people in the DCA saw what happened. I don't think they would be comfortable giving us $5,000 to $7,000 when they see bizarre actions like this. They gave us $100,000 because they know that we need the money. You don't want to leave an address as to why we don't deserve the money. It because of your actions. It is nothing extraordinary - you controlled it.

Seeing no further hands President Butler closed the public portion.

Council Comments on the SFY 2002-2003 Budget.

Councilman Testino: I asked Mr. Shah to confirm that there was no problem with the bond rating, and that this budget would sustain the same bond rating.

Mr. Shah: I had a discussion with Fitch who is comfortable with her review of that. Jennifer (Moody's) was not available. I believe that this should not have an impact on our rating based on the proposed amendment which has primarily reduced the cost rather than using a one-time revenue approach. This should prevent downgrading of our ratings although we will be on a watch and hopefully, in three months they will be removing the "watch" status. We are going to have to start working on next year's budget, and we will have issues to deal with. The current budget amendment as proposed and adopted should not have an impact on our ratings. We have had the same rating for the last two years.

Councilman Testino: We are still delivering the same level of service that we had in prior years except for the positions that have been eliminated. We are still getting police and road service, correct?

Mr. Shah: I believe that there is no reduction in those services, and we are delivering those services.

Councilman Testino: You have added all the administrative adjustments that you need for this budget? You are comfortable that you have added the revenues and the items that have come along since July when the mayor handed over the budget.

Mr. Shah: Most of those housekeeping amendments are incorporated in the budget.

Councilman Testino: Are you recommending the adoption of the budget as stated in the fiscal amendment we put forward last week?

Mr. Shah: We need to adopt this budget so that we can send out the tax bills. Council needs to adopt the budget amendments and then the budget as amended.

Motion

to adopt the amendments to the SFY 2002-2003 Budget as introduced and approved on January 6, 2003 made by Councilman Hoff, seconded by Councilman Redmond and so ordered on the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmen Baker, Calogera, Greene, Hoff, Maher, Redmond, Testino, Councilwoman Panos, President Butler.

NAYS: None.

RESOLUTION NO. 34

ADOPTING SFY 2002-2003 BUDGET

BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, New Jersey that:

the budget herein before set forth is hereby adopted and shall constitute an appropriation for the purposes stated of the sums therein set forth as appropriations, and authorization of the amount of:

(a) $22,305,693.00 (Item 2 below) for municipal purposes, and

(b) $0 (Item 3 below) for school purposes in Type I school Districts only (N.J.S.A. 18A:9-2) to be raised by taxation and

(c) $0 (Item 4 below) to be added to the certificate amount to be raised by taxation for local school purposes in Type II School Districts only (N.J.S.A.18A:9-3) and certification to the County Board of Taxation of the following summary of general revenues and appropriations

Summary of Revenues

1. General Revenues

Surplus Anticipated 40003-10 $5,675,000.00
Miscellaneous Revenues Anticipated 40004-10 $12,174,128.00
Receipts from Delinquent Taxes 41419-10 $1,525,000.00

2. Amount to be Raised by Taxation for Municipal Purposes (Item 6(a), Sheet 11)

41415-10 $22,305,693.00

3. Amount to be raised by taxation for Schools in Type I School Districts only:

Item 6, Sheet 42 40010-10
Item 6(b), Sheet 13 (NJSA 40A:4-14) 41416-10

Total amount to be raised by taxation for Schools in Type I School Districts only

4. To be added to the Certificate for amount to be raised by taxation for schools in Type II School Districts only:

Item 6(b), Sheet 13 (NJSA 40A:4-14) 41416-10

Total Revenues 40000-10 $41,679,821.00

Summary of Appropriations

5. General Appropriations

Within "CAPS"

(a&b) Operations including contingent $28,559,346.00
(e) Deferred charges and statutory expenditures - municipal $1,257,537.00
(f) Judgments 100.00

Excluded from "CAPS"

(a) Operations - total operations excluded from "CAPS" $2,755,946.00
(c) Capital Improvements 150,000.00
(d) Municipal Debt Service 5,316,691.00
(e) Deferred Charges - Municipal 504,000.00
(n) Transferred to Board of Education for Use of Local Schools
(g) Cash Deficit
(k) For Local District School Purposes
(m) Reserve for Uncollected Taxes (include other reserves if any) 3,136,201.00

6. School appropriations - Type I School Districts Only (NJSA 40A:4-13)

TOTAL APPROPRIATIONS $41,679,821.00

Moved by Councilman Hoff, seconded by Councilman Redmond and so ordered on the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmen Baker, Greene, Hoff, Maher, Redmond, Testino, Councilwoman Panos, President Butler.

NAYS: None.

ABSENT PODIUM: Councilman Calogera.

Prior to the roll call vote the following discussion took place:

Councilman Testino: Based on the (budget) amendment, what is the tax rate?

Mr. Shah: It is .73/100.

Councilman Testino: How is the compared historically?

Mr. Shah: Compared to last year?

Councilman Testino: We saw $.73 in 1993.

Mr. Shah: When the budget was adopted in 1993 the tax rate was $.76. Ten years later, your tax rate is 3 cents below what it was in 1993.

Councilman Testino: If we graphed it over these years, we would be stable.

Mr. Shah: For a long time we were stable with a strong financial position. We had discussed situations which resulted in the weakening of our financial position. I think most all agencies have faced that. We are not unique. With your support we will continue to return to a strong financial position.

Councilman Testino: Every time we save money at the township, we see it getting eaten away at the school board or in other districts.

Mr. Shah: We have no control over that. I think this town truly experienced a reduction in the total tax rate. I believe several years ago we had a true tax reduction in the total tax rate. It has been a good ten years.

Mayor Cannon: I would like to mention that the past thirteen years we have seen slightly over $6 million increase in the total budget, which is about 35% which is less than 3% per year. I think that reflects a very stable situation.

Councilman Greene: Congratulations to all council members for the work they did (on the budget negotiations). I thought this worked out better this year because instead of doing our negotiations on the dais, we did it openly with Mayor Cannon and the finance director. We would have liked to have done more as far as tax relief, but there are other things to consider. This year we are paying cumulatively over 7% for collective bargaining (3.5% the last two years) as well as the employees are negotiating a new budget. This is a course that is beyond our control. Health as well as other insurance costs has risen. We all would have loved to have done better, but when all is said and done, I personally believe that this was the best we could do. Hopefully, in the next budget we will be able to keep up the same type of communication, but have it done at an earlier date.

Councilman Redmond: I had asked to see a breakdown of these . . . We did all this running around to keep Moody's and Fitch happy. I want to know what we saved by doing that. I asked for an explanation of twenty-five basis points and what it would cost us over the life of the $4 million issue. I have yet to receive that information, and would appreciate receiving it.

Mr. Shah: This is one of the negative aspects of looking at something in a vacuum of single issues. We have many ongoing capital projects, and this is going to cost you a lot more. Many communities are working hard to improve their rating. Edison and Woodbridge have put a lot more money in their surplus to improve their ratings because they know that there is a significant cost. Losing the trust of the investment community is not a good sign. A strong bond rating is important for Old Bridge. I will provide the information on the $4 million bonds.

Councilman Redmond: I want to know what I am dealing with in dollars and cents.

President Butler: I thank the council and administration for their hard work. I want to also thank the employees who are going to have to show a little more work.

RESOLUTION NO. 35

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

the following minutes are hereby approved:

11/12/02 Combined
12/02/02 Agenda
12/04/02 Codification

Moved by Councilman Redmond, seconded by Councilman Baker and so ordered on the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmen Baker, Greene, Hoff, Maher, Redmond, Testino, Councilwoman Panos, President Butler.

NAYS: None.

ABSENT PODIUM: Councilman Calogera.

Ordinance for Second Reading.

Township of Old Bridge

BE IT ORDAINED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, Sate of New Jersey, as follows:

Section 1. Increase in Number of Plenary Retail Distribution Licenses.

Code Section 6-3.4(a) is hereby amended to increase the number of plenary retail distribution licenses from six (6) to eight (8). All other provisions of the said Code Section 6-3.4(a) be and shall remain in full force and effect.

Section 2. Annual License Fees

The annual license fees and maximum type and number of licenses for the sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages in the township shall be as follows:

Class of License Annual License Fee Number of Licenses

Plenary Retail Consumption License $1,891.92 35
Plenary Retail Distribution License $1,655.44 8
Club License $150.00

Section 3. Inconsistent Ordinances

All ordinances or parts of Ordinances inconsistent with or in conflict with this Ordinance are hereby repeated to the extent of such inconsistency.

Section 4. Partial Invalidity

If any section, paragraph, clause or provision of this Ordinance shall be adjudged invalid, such adjudication shall apply only to the section, paragraph, clause or provision so adjudged and the remainder shall be deemed valid and effective.

Section 5. Effective Date

A. Except as set forth at subparagraphs B and C hereof, this Ordinance shall take effect on the earlier of the following dates: (1) on the date the Mayor affixes his/her signature thereto and returns same to the Township Council by delivering it to the Municipal Clerk pursuant to NJSA 40A:69A-41 or (2) on the tenth day following presentment to the Mayor of the Ordinance pursuant to NJSA 40A:69A-41 applicable when the Mayor has failed to return the Ordinance, whichever occurs first.

B. If the Mayor vetoes the Ordinance (in the manner set forth at NJSA 40A:69A-41), this Ordinance shall become effective upon the Township Council's vote to override the Mayor's veto.

C. Notwithstanding any other provision hereof, this Ordinance shall not take effect less than twenty (20) days after its final passage by the Council and approval by the Mayor, where such approval is required, unless the Council shall have also adopted a resolution declaring an emergency and at least two-thirds (2/3) of all the members of the Council vote in favor of such resolution.

Moved by Councilman Redmond, seconded by Councilman Baker and so ordered on the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmen Baker, Calogera, Greene, Hoff, Maher, Redmond, Testino, Councilwoman Panos, President Butler.

NAYS: None.

Prior to the roll call vote President Butler opened a public portion. Seeing no hands President Butler closed the public portion.

Ordinance for Second Reading.

Deputy Clerk Ward: There are words "Full Sheet ?" that must be removed before the ordinance can be voted on.

Motion

to remove the words "Full Sheet ?" from Ordinance No. 02-03 made by Councilman Redmond, seconded by Councilman Baker and so ordered on the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmen Baker, Calogera, Greene, Hoff, Maher, Redmond, Testino, Councilwoman Panos, President Butler.

NAYS: None.

TOWNSHIP OF OLD BRIDGE
ORDINANCE NO. 02-03

AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWNSHIP OF OLD BRIDGE ESTABLISHING FEES FOR SPECIAL SERVICE CHARGES AND
SPECIAL CHARGES UNDER THE NEW JERSEY OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS LAW

BE IT ORDAINED, by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey as follows:

SECTION 1: PURPOSE

New Jersey has adopted the Open Public Records Law which has as its general purpose making government records more available to the public than they have been in the past. In certain instances, the production of archived records or records in a format which is not the usual format maintained by the municipality or other special circumstances would be costly and time consuming. The New Jersey Public Records Law permits the municipality to require the payment of fees, special service charges and/or special charges as a prerequisite to the production of records requiring extraordinary time and effort, special equipment or special formatting.

SECTION 2: ORDINARY REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION

The statutory fee schedule shall apply to routine requests under the Open Public Records Law. The fees of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5 are hereby incorporated herein as such fee schedule presently exists or as such fees might appear in future modifications or amendments of the statute.

At present time, fees under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5 for routine copies of municipal documents are:

Pages 1 through 10 $.75 per page
Pages 11 through 20 $.50 per page
All pages after 20 $.25 per page

SECTION 3: NO RESEARCH OR INTERPRETATION MAY BE COMPELLED

Nothing in this Ordinance shall require the custodian of documents or any other municipal official to examine, analyze, tabulate, or interpret documents which are subject to production under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act.

SECTION 4: SPECIAL SERVICE CHARGE/SPECIAL CHARGES AUTHORIZED

• Charges Authorized:

The Township Clerk or other custodian or keeper of documents qualifying for mandatory production as "governmental records" under the New Jersey Public Records Act shall be entitled to special service charges and/or special charges as set forth in Section 5 of this Ordinance.

• Requests To Be In Writing

Any requests for documents shall be made to the Township Clerk on a form established by the Township Clerk for such purposes.

• Advance Notice of Fees, Special Service Charges and Special Charges; Deposit

Any requester of government records which are eligible for the imposition of a special charge or special service charge under Section 5 of this Ordinance shall receive advance notice of the amount of fees and charges before any work is started. The Township Clerk shall require prepayment of such charges before causing the work to begin.

• Duplication On Other Work Beyond Capability of Municipal-In-House Work Force:

Whenever the in-house municipal work force or available municipal equipment is insufficient to duplicate or produce government records in a timely fashion, the Township Clerk may cause such duplication or production to be accomplished by outside vendors such as copy centers or producers of digital images. If the costs of such duplication or production charged by such vendors exceeds the routine charges set forth in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5, the actual direct cost of same without any additional surcharge for labor costs shall be paid.

• Special Service Charged Authorized:

Whenever government records cannot be reproduced by regular copying equipment or fulfillment of the request would involve extraordinary time and effort (for example, where a large number of records must be recovered from storage or substantive staff time is required to review, sort and assemble records), charges may be imposed as follows:

• Cost of GIS Data:

The cost of any GIS data owned by the Township of Old Bridge shall be as follows:

• Digital Records:

• In a medium not routinely used by the agency (i.e., electronic or film)
• Not routinely developed or maintained by an agency; or
  
• Requiring a substantial amount of manipulation or programming of information technology.

SECTION 6. NOTICE OF REQUESTER OF COPYRIGHT LAWS:

The Township of Old Bridge may be compelled by New Jersey Law to produce or duplicate governmental records but no compliance with these legal obligations shall be deemed to constitute a license, sub-license or waiver of copyright laws.

The Township Clerk shall give the following notice to any requester of governmental records.

NOTICE - COPYRIGHT LAWS

You must comply with U.S. copyright laws. These laws may restrict your right to use, duplicate or modify the records provided to you by the Township of Old Bridge. You should consult your own legal counsel on this since severe civil and criminal penalties for violation of copyright laws are provided.

SECTION 7. WAIVERS FOR GOVERNMENTAL EDUCATIONAL REQUESTER

The Mayor, Clerk or Township Council (by Resolution) may waive the fees or other charges otherwise chargeable if the requester of governmental records is a governmental or educational entity.

SECTION 8. INCONSISTENT ORDINANCES

All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent with or in conflict with this ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.

SECTION 9. PARTIAL INVALIDITY

If any section, paragraph, clause or provision of this ordinance shall be adjudged invalid, such adjudication shall apply only to the section, paragraph, clause or provision so adjudged and the remainder shall be deemed valid and effective.

SECTION 10. EFFECTIVE DATE

A. Except as set forth at subparagraphs B and C hereof, this Ordinance shall take effect on the earlier of the following dates: (1) on the date the Mayor affixes his/her signature thereto and returns same to the Township Council by delivering it to the Municipal Clerk pursuant to NJSA 40A:69A-41 or (2) on the tenth day following presentment to the Mayor of the Ordinance pursuant to NJSA 40A:69A-41 applicable when the Mayor has failed to return the Ordinance, whichever occurs first.

B. If the Mayor vetoes the Ordinance (in the manner set forth at NJSA 40A:69A-41), this Ordinance shall become effective upon the Township Council's vote to override the Mayor's veto.

C. Notwithstanding any other provision hereof, this Ordinance shall not take effect less than twenty (20) days after its final passage by the Council and approval by the Mayor, where such approval is required, unless the Council shall have also adopted a resolution declaring an emergency and at least two-thirds (2/3) of all the members of the Council vote in favor of such resolution.

All ordinances or part of ordinances inconsistent with or in conflict with this ordinance are hereby repealed to the extend of such inconsistency.

Moved by Councilman Redmond, seconded by Councilman Baker and so ordered on the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmen Baker, Calogera, Greene, Hoff, Maher, Redmond, Testino, Councilwoman Panos, President Butler.

NAYS: None.

Prior to the roll call vote President Butler opened a public portion. Seeing no hands President Butler closed the public portion.

Ordinance for First Reading.

RESOLUTION NO. 36

BINGO RAFFLE

NAYS: None.

RESOLUTION NO. 37

MEMORIALIZING RELEASE OF PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE OXFORD ESTATES

RESOLUTION NO. 38

MEMORIALIZING REDUCTION OF PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE FOR ORCHARD HILL

RESOLUTION NO. 39

MEMORIALIZING COUNCIL'S DISAPPROVAL OF CABLEVISION'S ACTIONS