Calendar Year Budget Passes, 6-1

One of the city's most ill-starred fiscal chapters ended Monday when the City Council approved a $72.3 million budget for the 2012 calendar year.

Even on Monday, officials could not state the tax rate reflected in the budget, which will require $50.2 million in local taxes, largely to support public safety costs. It was the $40 million police and fire expense that Councilman William Reid singled out in casting the only "no" vote, along with a claim that a council majority "eased"  $50,000 into the budget for a dissolution study on the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority.

Council members Cory Storch, Rebecca Williams, Bridget Rivers, Annie McWilliams, Vera Greaves and Council President Adrian Mapp cast "yes" votes, deflecting both a move by Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs to cut library funding by 40 percent and City Administrator Eric Berry's last-minute try to get the state Department of Community Affairs to overturn the budget.

The savior of the process was budget consultant David Kochel, who was able to turn an introduced budget with a potential $2 million shortfall into one that came in narrowly in favor of the taxpayer. Mapp read out Kochel's figures Monday that showed a small decrease in the tax rate, to $4.106 per $100 of assessed valuation to $4.102. Again, officials could not state the impact on the average homeowner with a $125,000 house.

Mapp also warned that because property values overall have dropped, the slight decrease in municipal taxes may be illusory.

So ended the the 2012 budget process as it began, with a lack of basic information from administration. The  governing body and a Citizens Budget Advisory Committee toiled for weeks over a document riddled with errors and omissions and even when the state uncovered them, the administration did not inform the council of the findings for more than a month. Kochel managed to overcome issues including individuals left out of the budget, a $1.2 million error in insurance costs and failure to provide for union settlements.

Then Berry sent three letters to the state Department of Community Affairs on June 12, asking the state to intercede, but Mapp said the state upheld the governing body's actions, allowing Monday's final passage of the budget. No resident spoke at a public hearing before the vote.

Kochel, hired through Jersey Professional Management as a consultant, received $12,000 for his expertise. He had previously served as acting city city administrator in 2011 and was familiar with the city's unique departmental structure through its special charter. Some of the fiscal problems arose through the departure of  Chief Financial Officer Ron Zilinski, who also served in 2011 but quit in January 2012 . Zilinski had managed the six-month "transition year" budget that allowed for conversion to a calendar year.

The city is again without a permanent CFO, as it was for three years previous to Zilinski's tenure. The mayor has nominated Diane Sherry-Buono to succeed Zilinski, but the council took no action on the appointment Monday.

--Bernice