Will Kochel Aid City Budget Process?

With budget introduction imminent, the City Council split Monday on whether to hire David Kochel again as its consultant for the 2013 process.

Initially the council failed to get a consensus to put the matter up for a vote at the April 8 regular meeting, with Cory Storch, Adrian Mapp and Rebecca Williams in favor and William Reid, Vera Greaves, Tracey Brown and Council President Rivers against the idea. But later, after Storch asked later to add a resolution to hire Kochel, Reid broke ranks with the dissenters and said he would support the move if his concerns were addressed before the regular meeting. He had questioned why a "pre-selected" person was being considered and also felt enough expertise existed among the council members to review the budget without a consultant.

Kochel, who served as acting city administrator for most of 2011, was the council's budget consultant in 2012 and resolved a potential debacle, reversing a $2 million shortfall to a slight decrease in the tax rate. He served while the city lacked a permanent chief finance officer following the departure of CFO Ron Zilinski. The city is still without a CFO, except for the five to eight hours a week that South Plainfield Borough Administrator and CFO Glenn Cullen can spare for Plainfield.

The council also still needs to name its 2013 Citizens Budget Advisory Committee and set a schedule for budget deliberations. Meanwhile, the governing body is expected to pass another temporary budget for May next Monday, lessening its ability to make cuts as the city approaches the half-year mark without a budget in place.

--Bernice