A discussion on temporary appropriations for the month of April devolved into a dispute over inclusion of a year's worth of costs for the mayor's office as well as high pension costs.
Councilman William Reid repeatedly accused the administration of trying to "pull the wool over our eyes" as Finance Director Ron West attempted to explain the budget appropriations Monday. West also caught flak from Councilwoman Gloria Taylor, who told West, "Say what it is you are doing and just be truthful."
"Don't be antagonistic," Councilwoman Vera Greaves chided West as he tried again to answer Reid's questions.
Reid, head of the council's finance committee for 2014, said he will be meeting with West Friday, but instead of having the April budget on the March 10 agenda, Reid said the council will probably have to hold a special meeting before the March 31 deadline to approve the temporary budget..
The council is still in the process of naming members of the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee and is not anywhere close to budget adoption, so must make appropriations month by month to run city operations..
While the whole-year appropriation for the mayor's office did sound like something new and unusual in the budget process, the reason for needing to pay about $5 million in April for pensions dates back to 2009, when the council at the time agreed to a deferral plan that lowered taxes but incurred a future debt for 15 years starting in 2012. See post here.
In April 2012, the tab for the deferred payment was $5,199,585 for the Police and Firemen's Retirement System (PFRS) and $1,407,810 for the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), just the first installment in paying back the debt incurred to keep taxes low in 2009. See post here.
Perhaps Reid forgot about the deferral plan. As for the $99,000 in the April budget for the mayor's office, a full explanation is in order.
--Bernice
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Most politicians forget when the saddle the future with their poor budgeting decisions.. so in this case, even I will say Reid is merely being a "politician"
ReplyDeleteBernice, Check your history for a year where there was NOT an argument over the Temporary Budget process. That would be newsworthy !
ReplyDeleteAs I recall the Citizens Budget Committee was originally formed by the opposition to get a handle on the Robinson-Brigg's era financial messes. It kinda sorta worked but because it was so hard getting straight info from the admin it never realized its potential. I suppose it was a good idea but how much impact has it had on the actual budget in terms of percentage change or absolute dollars? Is it really needed now that we have a stable financial team or is it just another group that continues to meet after it's time is done?
ReplyDeleteListen very carefully to the diction--"just be truthful" and "pull the wool over our eyes" and "don't be antagonistic"--to suggest that Mr. West was lying, to suggest that he was being deceitful, to suggest that he was being antagonistic. These coded phrases don't portend well for the future, in terms of working with the administration. Mr. West has been working for less than 2 months--their word choice reeks of hypocrisy. More hypocrisy is evident when they attempt to push LegalShield forward month after month--without even considering my call to have the administration look into competitors' pricing. I think Dottie Gutenkauf's suggestion should be heeded--let the unions deal with it in collective bargaining.
ReplyDeleteRebecca
Just remember "You can keep your Doctor is you want to" & "I never had sex with that woman". A Politican would never lie or bend the truth .... especially a Democrat who is for the people.
ReplyDeleteMany in this council need to realize they lost their friend, Sharon, to the majority of Plainfield voters. They need to get over it. Reid also conveniently forgot that he voted to put off the pension payments, which they should have known doesn't work. They just needed to look at New Jersey's pension woes from putting off pension payments. I think Reid and Taylor are trying purposely trying to derail the Mayor and in the process hurt the people of Plainfield. I think Reid, Greaves, and Taylor need to go as soon as is legally possible.
ReplyDeleteJust look at those two.... one who pays no property taxes under a vet program and one who chooses not to. What a joke!
ReplyDeleteWasn't that deferral the one the CBAC was told was paid in full by Dashield? That we owed nothing.
ReplyDeleteGloria Taylor is also falling into the "really doesn't know much about what she is supposed to do as a council person", line right along side of Greaves.
Reid is just a pain in the neck, and makes trouble where he can. Greaves follows without thinking.
Bernice or whomever knows the answer:
ReplyDeleteCould you please clarify the actual amount owed this year for the deferred pension contribution. Is it $6.6M for this year alone or is that the principal amount to be paid over 15 years. Also, is that the deferred amount only or does it include the normal yearly pension contributions? Thanks.
I'm going to guess at the answer.
DeleteIn 2009 I think we deferred about $3MM or roughly 50% of what we owed for that year. Over 15 years at 8.5% (again, guessing at the terms) we should owe about $350K per year in addition to our "normal" current pension obligations.
In 2011 we seems to have paid about $800K more than you would expect given the pattern. Was that a payment to reduce the deferred amount? Or some kind of retroactive payment due to new contracts? Was that the year of the wacky 6 month budget? Don't know.
Anyway, I'm guessing that the 2014 budget should be inn the $6.7MM including the deferred $350K payment.
Again, just guesses on my part.
why does the council wait until getting the budget before appointing their citizens committee. Shouldn't they have had them ready to go as soon as the budget was received. They would be better off bringing in Kochel to do there work since they are so overworked with their one monthly meeting
ReplyDelete