Bergen executive assails Democrats’ budget plan
JUNE 23, 2014 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan delivered a blistering critique of the freeholders’ proposed 2014 budget, contending it will leave the county up to $3 million in the red starting early next year.
But Freeholder Chairman David Ganz disputed Donovan’s numbers and contended the board’s $507.6 million budget will deliver real relief in the form of a slightly less than zero tax increase.
The debate signals the extent to which the normally humdrum budget — scheduled for a final vote on July 9 — has become a hot topic during this year’s election, in which control of both the Freeholder Board and the County Executive’s Office is at stake.
Donovan, a Republican running for a second term, contends that in order to slice $6.8 million from the budget she proposed in March, the freeholders are tapping into funds that can’t be replenished next year.
“They’re raiding all the funds and taking the money out, which is very imprudent because next year, even if you’ve got the money in, you can’t spend it,” Donovan said during a Record Talk Radio interview on Friday.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/donovan-assails-proposed-budget-1.1039779