Meeting Features New Cabinet Members

New Acting City Administrator David R. Kochel sat in on his first City Council meeting Tuesday after serving a month on the job.

Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs announced at the May 9 council meeting that Kochel would start a 90-day stint on May 11. A special meeting item Tuesday was Kochel’s contract for $95 per hour, not to exceed $31,000. The governing body will vote on it at the May 20 meeting. The contract is with Jersey Professional Management, where Kochel is an associate.

Tuesday’s meeting also included a rare appearance by Chief Finance Officer Ron Zilinski, who was hired at the end of November and began work in January. Asked whether he would attend Monday’s regular meeting, Zilinski said he only works Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Kochel and Zilinski are aboard at a crucial time, as the city is switching from a fiscal year beginning July 1 to a calendar year. Also on Monday’s agenda is a resolution applying to the state Local Finance Board to make the change as well as an ordinance to enact the change. The move will include a six-month “transition year” and the full calendar year in 2012.

Zilinski said the change will enable the city to build up a surplus and avoid layoffs as the payroll is reduced through attrition. Retirements are expected to increase due to new state legislation, he said.

For the reasons above, reverting to a calendar year will help the city stay under a 2 percent state-imposed budget cap, which Zilinski called “onerous.”

--Bernice