Evesham Township Council used a portion of its most recent meeting to approve the township’s 2019 capital bond ordinance in the amount of $5.25 million.
Approval came with a 4-1 vote, with the three members of council’s Democratic majority voting “yes,” while one of the two members of council’s Republican minority also voted “yes” and the other voted “no.”
As is the case in most years, more than half of the money in this year’s capital bond ordinance – $3 million – will go toward the township’s 2019 road program, with $2.25 million of the remaining funds set for various capital purchases and upgrades in town.
Also included in the bond ordinance are the “soft costs” for engineering, architectural and legal bonding.
With the 2019 bond ordinance set at $5.25 million, the figure is up from the 2018 ordinance of $5 million, although the distribution of funds between roads and capital purchases has changed from last year.
To that point, the $2.25 million in costs for this year’s capital purchases (not counting the road program) was actually lower than the nearly $2.4 million marked for capital purchases in 2018.
In turn, this year’s road program, set at $3 million, has increased nearly $400,000 from last year’s road program, which was set at about $2.6 million.
Breaking capital purchases down by category, a total of $900,000 is marked for vehicles. Those purchases include seven police patrol vehicles for $365,000, in addition to public works purchases of a wheel loader for $260,000, an aerial lift bucket truck for $225,000 and a super duty pickup truck with snow plow for $50,000.
Another $505,000 is set for improvements to township facilities, the majority of which – $350,000 – is designated for interior work at the Gibson House Community Center, including floor installation, restroom upgrades, fixing a window leak and the option to work on the building’s partition.
Remaining facility upgrades include work at the fire district offices at the municipal building for $40,000, additional municipal building upgrades for another $40,000, infield mix replacement and grading diamonds on open space lands for $40,000, irrigation system upgrades on open space lands for $25,000 and electrical evaluations within the municipal building for $10,000.
Other funds in the bond ordinance include a total of $330,000 for technology upgrades, with $130,000 to the police department’s body-worn camera program, $90,000 in network hardware/software costs, $60,000 for a technological integration system, $35,000 for Laserfiche web portal software and $15,000 to convert microfiche records to digital records.
Additionally, $225,000 has been set aside for sidewalk repairs, and $190,000 has been marked for drainage improvements (including but not limited to improvements and repairs within the Briarwood subdivision).
Finally, $100,000 is marked for various equipment purchases at across multiple township departments. Of that, $65,000 is for the installation of rifle mounts and to purchase additional rifles and accessories for police vehicles, so that vehicles can respond to active shooter situations. Another $30,000 is for the purchase of a Truckster utility vehicle for use areas of open space lands that are difficult to reach, and $5,000 is for refurbished golf carts for use during township events.
Democratic Mayor Jaclyn Veasy said this year’s capital program was “very fiscally conservative” compared to previous years, and she was “very happy” with this year’s capital budget.
“These are not ‘wish list’ items,” Veasy said. “These are needed items that need to be done to give all the services back to the township that we need to do. It is following a process that’s been going on for many years.”
However, council’s approval of the bond ordinance to facilitate these future purchases was not without a several comments and questions between council, township officials and members of the public.
Resident Anthony Quitugua was the first member of the public to speak, and he echoed the questions of several residents who spoke after him when he pointed to the vehicles and equipment purchases listed in the bond ordinance that had their “period or average period of usefulness” listed as five years.
However, in response to Quitugua and other residents, Evesham Township Chief Financial Officer and Acting Township Manager Tom Shanahan noted that the five years listed as the service life for those types of purchases was based on “very aged” state and local bond law, which in turn is based upon older service lives.
Shanahan said that although the township is only authorized to legally bond for a maximum service length of five years when purchasing items such as vehicles, equipment and computers, in actual practice, township employees often get many more years of use out the items, specifically vehicles.
To that point, Shanahan pointed to a pair of heavy public works vehicles being replaced that were in the fleet for 21 years, along with a vehicle being replaced that was in the fleet for 17 years.
“I’m fully confident with the expertise of our mechanics and our public works that they will keep these [new] vehicles in service for a long time,” Shanahan said.
Also speaking at the meeting was resident Jay Levenson, who unsuccessfully ran for a seat on Evesham Township as part of the Republican ticket in the November election.
Levenson questioned if, moving forward, detailed versions of posted bond ordinances could separately list the legal and engineering costs associated with a purchase.
Currently, legal and engineering costs associated with a purchase are only listed as a combined cost under the same column.
“It’s a little hard to understand how this is playing out when you just look at the combined numbers,” Levenson said.
Those sentiments were also raised Republican Councilman Bob DiEnna, who also asked if there was any direct correlation between the percentage of legal and engineering costs required for a purchase related to the overall price of the purchase.
Shanahan noted some improvements and purchases need licensed professionals to prepare plans, while other purchases, such as vehicle acquisitions, generally do not.
DiEnna also pointed to several other questions that he said were proposed to him by residents concerning the bond ordinance – and similar to residents who spoke directly at council’s most recent meeting – DiEnna still questioned the need to bond for items that were listed with a shorter service life.
“I struggle with the fact that we would have a 16-year bond, and yet something would be in that bond that only has a service life of five years,” DiEnna said. “The more specific question would be, do we continue to pay interest after that equipment is no longer is in service?”
In response, Shanahan said that based on his 25 years in finance, and his time serving with the township since 2003, it was actually cost probative for the township if the township were to break down all the various purchases into separate five, 10, 15 or 20 year bonds.
“We’d have to hold duplicate bond anticipation note sales, which would cost additional soft costs for the cost of issuance,” Shanahan said. “This is the most cost effective way you can issue bonds.”
Shanahan also noted the process was “standard practice” among larger municipalities in New Jersey, and the township has been enacting multipurpose bond ordinances for the past 10 years.
DiEnna also questioned if the township had conducted a “walkthrough” to observe the bonded items to ensure that the township’s employee’s were asking for a “needs list” and not a “wish list.”
“I suppose some could characterize this at nitpicky, but when I look at a bond, and look at a specific item – the Gibson House floors, restrooms, a leaky window to be bonded – that to me just screams that it’s an expense, but I will stand corrected if that’s more accepted procedurally than not,” DiEnna said.
To that point, Shanahan noted that council’s pre-meeting packets issued on March 1 included narratives prepared by the township’s various department heads, in which they provided their cases for various purchases to council.
Shanahan also took questions after he he publically presented this year’s proposed capital purchases at council’s following meeting on March 5.
In addition, Shanahan said that upgrades to the Gibson House were effectively “a 2018 council initiative,” as last year’s prior council was the first to award a contract to an architect to prepare possible improvement items for the repairs at the facility.
However, as in past years, Shanahan noted that even if council approved certain appropriations through a bond ordinance, council retains the option to ask township financial officials to postpone posting bids for projects in the instance that council has “second thoughts” or other issues arise.
In addition to DiEnna, also speaking at council’s most recent meeting was Councilman Ken D’Andrea, who serves as the other Republican in the minority on council.
In response to discussion surrounding the bond ordinance process this year, D’Andrea said he was “disappointed,” as he noted that with his 13 years on council, in addition to his father’s 12 years on council before him, he did not believe the bond process had changed.
D’Andrea also pointed to his own experience in the business world and praised the work of Shanahan, noting that Shanahan was, in D’Andrea’s opinion, “the best CFO” in the state.
“When you read through, whether a plethora of emails or plethora of details, I haven’t seen anything different than any other year, whether it was IT [information technology purchases], cars being purchased, construction projects – this is no different than any other year,” D’Andrea said.
D’Andrea also noted that issues concerning expenditures, costs and revenue [taxes] would discussed and decided in later months when the township prepares its annual budget.
“We’re not at the budget yet,” D’Andrea said. “We’ve been really steadfast, for every year, to make sure taxes are low, zero, stable or reduced. That’s where I’m going to come in with the real magnifying glass that I’ve been doing for the last however many years.”
Ultimately, the D’Andrea joined the three members of council’s Democratic majority to vote for the bond ordinance, while DiEnna provided the single vote against.
As for Democratic Councilwoman Patricia Hansen and Deputy Mayor Heather Cooper, they also spoke positively of the bond ordinance.
Hansen spoke to some residents’ concerns on the potential lifespan of the technology upgrades included within the ordinance, with Hansen noting that much of it was directed toward the township’s police force.
“There’s no way that our police department should have to not have the best equipment to be the best that they can,” Hansen said. “They put their lives out there every day for us, and we need to support them.”
For her part, Cooper said that although she and fellow Democrats walked into a budget year “already in play” when they took office in January, they would continue to work toward fiscal responsibility.
“I also think that always looking at our spending is necessary, and as we continue to be efficient in our town, we will continue to look at ways to reduce costs, as we did with this capital budget,” Cooper said.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Evesham Township Council is set for April 16 at 7 p.m. at the township municipal building.
