By KATIE MORGAN
In Marlton, Council is a big fan of the word, “yes.”
Council has been given the task of completing a questionnaire issued by Gov. Christie. The “Guidelines for Best Practices” questionnaire consists of 88 yes or no questions regarding cost-saving structural changes.
Municipalities who can answer yes to 76 or more questions will receive the full allotment of their final state aid amount. Towns with fewer yes answers will have their final aid cut by up to 5 percent.
All 566 municipalities in New Jersey completed the checklist, answering yes or no to questions such as, “Do your new contracts limit salary and wage increases to two percent or less? Do you share equipment with the Board of Education? Did you renew shared services contracts during the past year?”
At last week’s meeting, township manager Tom Czerniecki discussed the township’s answers with Council.
“At the moment, we’re looking good,” he said. “We have 66 yes answers, and there are another 11 questions where we can’t provide an exact yes, but we think we meet the spirit and intent of the question.”
Czerniecki is confident Marlton will receive 100 percent of the nearly $264,000 the municipality has been allotted in state aid.
The township took additional steps to boost the number of yes answers before the October 1 deadline for the questionnaire’s completion.
One of the questions involved the presentation format for budget information. At an earlier meeting, Czerniecki presented budget information in a different format. At last week’s meeting, he showed it in a reformatted version in order to comply with the format required on the questionnaire. The reformatting earned Marlton another yes.
In addition, Council adopted a resolution to enroll in the Sustainable Jersey Program. Over time, membership in the program results in becoming certified as a green community.
“One of the questions that we say no to is about being certified as a green community,” Czerniecki said.
“We’re now enrolled in the process but we haven’t achieved it yet.”
Czerniecki also said he has seen questions about enrollment in the program on various grant applications.
“This will help the township financially in the long run,” he said.
“Also, it’s just the right thing to do for the environment.”
Council planned a public meeting on Sept. 29 with the Board of Education to discuss shared services and issues of common concern.
“We’re actually planning a meeting with every entity in town,” Czerniecki said. “We’ll get together with the BOE, Fire Department, and MUA to create a common approach to energy usage.
“The goal of the meeting is for everyone to say what they’re doing in energy conservation, and lay out what their thinking is on it.”
Czerniecki said Marlton will continue to pursue avenues to boost the number of yes answers on the questionnaire, even after the deadline.
