Medford Township Council finally approved a budget for 2011.
The budget, $21,870,040, was arrived at through much difficulty. Earlier in the year residents rejected a referendum that would have allowed the township to raise taxes above the 2 percent cap imposed by the state.
“I am relieved we have an adopted budget and we still have some service levels operating,” Township Manager Christopher Schultz said. “I have tried to be equitable in that cuts have impacted all departments, but the largest impact would be in public work services and police.”
“It’s a bare bones budget,” Council Member Bob Martin said. “It’s going to get us through the next year.
“It’s the best we can do” given what they have to work with, he added, noting there have been and will continue to be layoffs and cutbacks.
Resident Chris Buoni, who is running unopposed in next month’s council election, offered guarded optimism about the budget.
“I’m glad to see they finally managed to balance the budget,” Buoni said. “Unfortunately they managed to balance the budget by one-time fixes.”
He was referring to assets like cell phone towers that were sold off for a one-time revenue.
“We did some things this year that will unfortunately offer us no help towards any kind of long-term solution to our budget problem,” Buoni said.
And what about next year?
“It will be a big challenge again,” Schultz said. “We have a financial gap between the tax levy and the total budget that will require additional cost reductions unless we see an increase in stable revenue.
“One time revenues are pretty much no longer available which has been artificially subsidizing the budget,” he added.
Buoni pointed to information provided by the township auditor at the council meeting that eight of 40 fixed assets in the township are missing. He said as much as $20 million could be unaccounted for.
“It becomes apparent to me that they are reluctant to let the members of our township understand the exact nature of the problem we’re facing,” Buoni said. “That’s beyond financial mismanagement.
“Something’s going on here and I want to get to the bottom of it,” he added. “Where are the assets that are unaccounted for?”
Schultz said Buoni’s numbers are not necessarily correct.
“The township has certain assets that may not have been accounted for but may be in inventory,” Schultz said. “There was a sampling of 40 fixed assets of which the auditor was unable to locate or properly identify eight assets which totaled $15,186.75.
“The error, when projected through the entire population of assets totaled $657,764,” he added. “The township is now in the process of developing a complete inventory of its fixed assets and establishing controls to properly account for asset disposition.”
This information can be found in the audit which is posted on the township’s website.
So why is it that many residents mistrust the current council?
“I don’t know,” Martin said. “I feel like I am as honest as they come but I think anything you look at there’s two sides to every story.
“Sometimes it could be political,” he continued. “Who knows?”
Whether real or perceived, governing bodies are accountable for their actions/decisions,” Schultz said. “Overtime, the community, in part, has questioned some of those actions and decisions and the overall direction of the township.”
Because Mayor Chris Myers and Council Member Dominic Grosso were absent from the meeting, the council tabled ordinances regarding the controversial Medford Crossings project to the Oct. 10 meeting.
“The Medford Crossings project is a major issue for this community with a long history,” Schultz said. “Depending on if the project is ever constructed and how it comes to that is what is currently at debate.
“These ordinances are amending previous versions addressed by the planning board which found them to be inconsistent with the master plan,” he added.
