Village Manager Ken Gabbert will now play a dual role in Ridgewood’s administration — the Village Council approved his appointment as chief financial officer (CFO) by a 3-1 vote at a special public meeting on Tuesday morning.
Councilman Paul Aronsohn cast the dissenting vote. Councilwoman Anne Zusy was absent from the vote. Gabbert was sworn in as CFO immediately following the vote.
“Everyone in village government is being asked to work harder and longer,” Aronsohn said in an e-mail. “It therefore seems wrong to give a few people extra salary, while everyone else works harder for the same salary. A good example is the fire department. The village manager is proposing the elimination of the deputy chief position, but is not proposing an increase in anyone’s salary to compensate them for doing the extra work.”
By serving in both capacities, Gabbert’s salary will increase by $25,000 annually, but the taxpayers will save about $135,000 the first year and about $150,000 the second year of his four-year appointment, officials said. The savings will be realized by not having to hire an additional person to fill the opening left when former CFO Dorothy Stikna retired in January.
“The big picture is restructuring the finance department,” Gabbert said Tuesday morning at Village Hall.
The resolution, read by Village Clerk Heather Mailander, said that the state requires every municipality to have a CFO appointed, and that Gabbert is qualified to hold such a position because he has the proper state certification.
,”comparing schools to private enterprise is not an intelligent comparison. the two are in different realm – its like comparing baseball stats with golf handicaps – the two have nothing to do with each other.
you see, part living in the greatest nation on earth means that YOU have to pay up to live here. you live in one of the wealthiest towns in the nation – nobody is crying for you when you’re paying taxes. YOU CAN AFFORD IT – YOU LIVE IN RIDGEWOOD.
if you can’t afford the taxes, move elsewhere. there is plenty of affordable housing in alabama.”
The Village of Ridgewood in 2009 felt the continued effects of the worst recession, since the great depression. The Village sustained a significant downfall in anticipated revenues of $455,955. ,which negatively effects fund balance. The 2010 reduction in State Aid revenues of $572,072. only imposes additional constraints on the Village to minimize property tax increases while maintaining the same level of services. Proceeds from the sale of a Liquor license for $450,000. will be anticipated as revenue in this years budget. Contractual salaries, health insurance and pension costs remain to hamper efforts to control budgeted expenses.
The 2010 introduced municipal budget has a estimated tax rate increase of 8.8 percent, or a $302.00 increase for the average residential property assessed at $800,000.
The 2010 budget must meet both State imposed budget (expense) and levy (tax) caps. On the budget side the Village has met its spending cap of $1,106,000. This was obtained by implementing an aggressive expense reduction plan. Total expense reductions to be realized in 2010 total $966,327. The introduced budget however does not meet the levy cap. The Village will request a levy cap waiver in the amount of $1,100,000. The levy cap waiver if granted by the State will enable the Village to provide health and safety services to its resident. Also, the levy cap waiver will be an adjustment or pass on to the 2011 tax levy year. The Village will be in a more stable financial position to satisfy the levy cap, due to the second six month savings from the cost reduction plan which will be undertaken this year. It is anticipated that the expense reduction plan will provide several years of property tax relief. Continued efforts to expand inter-local services with surrounding communities and outsourcing of services will be explored and reexamined.
The 2010 Budget will only increase $243,773. over the 2009 Budget. Large expense items in the budget are:
Group Health Insurance increased 19.83% or $684,219. The Village solicited bids for alternative plans, but was unsuccessful in securing a cost effective solution.
Other Insurance Workers Compensation appropriation rose $62,629. Funds will replenish the insurance reserve fund for future claims which may arise.
Accumulated Absences increased 19.19% or $71,572. Village must provide funding for retirements in 2010.
Police & Fire Retirement pension bill, increased 8.60% or $161,176. Village must meet its financial obligation as mandated by the State.
Unemployment costs increased by $286,288. over 2009. The dramatic increase is the result of implementing staff reductions to comply with the States imposed budget and levy caps, and minimize property tax increases.
Police and Fire contractual Salaries increased on average of 4.3 percent, or $431,160.
The Capital Budget will provide funding for the following :
Rolling stock of Municipal Vehicles
Technology Infrastructure Upgrades
2010 Street Resurfacing & Reconstruction Program.
Stormwater Drainage System Upgrades
Building Improvements, Various Locations
SCADA System Upgrades, Water Pollution Control Facility
The Crisis | Only 35 percent of American high school seniors are proficient readers. Only 23 percent are proficient in math. Nationwide, only 74 percent of ninth graders graduate within four years—and that number drops to about 50 percent for black and Hispanic students. Twelve percent of American high schools are “dropout factories”—schools where less than 60 percent of freshmen even make it to their senior year. It comes as no surprise, then, that America lags far behind other developed countries when it comes to schooling: Among large industrialized countries, America ranks last in educational effectiveness—despite spending the most.
About The Cartel | Teachers punished for speaking out. Principals fired for trying to do the right thing. Union leaders defending the indefensible. Bureaucrats blocking new charter schools. These are just some of the people we meet in The Cartel. The film also introduces us to teens who can’t read, parents desperate for change, and teachers struggling to launch stable alternative schools for inner city kids who want to learn. We witness the tears of a little girl denied a coveted charter school spot, and we share the triumph of a Camden homeschool’s first graduating class.
>I am what some may call a “Ridgewood Newbie”. As newlyweds three years ago my husband and I went on a search to find the perfect home to begin our lives together in. We wanted a community that would allow us to be involved, raise our children and most of all grow old together in. Ridgewood immediately was narrowed down as the ONLY TOWN we would search in. We finally landed in the beautiful Wastena Park area and could not be happier.
Recently I have tried to gain awareness in regards to local issues including the vacancies in our downtown shopping district, the community divide about the beloved Graydon pool, the Valley expansion and most recently the Council Election. So many of these issues are tainted with personal attacks and agendas that it can be very difficult to learn the truth. I urge everyone to learn before choosing a side to support. And PLEASE lets keep this about the issues and not about supporters.
Last night as I sat and talked with some Ridgewoodians (as I like to call them) we began to discuss these current topics with passion. Someone at this meeting said “If we continue to strive for status quo we at least need to make some changes to maintain that balance. If we choose as a community to keep everything as is, we will only fall behind in society and this beautiful town and admired community will be gone as we know it”. This really struck a chord with me and I hope it does with you as well.
As we enter this critical time in Ridgewood’s history I urge you to Vote for growth. Vote for change. Vote for innovation.
Tomorrow we vote for the school budget. Voting YES will mean an increase in our taxes. Do I want this – NO! But how can we put a price on education? We live in this town for a reason and one of them is the opportunity it provides our children. School budget questions? Visit – https://board-of-education.ridgewood.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/group_pages.phtml?gid=944840&nid=116620&sessionid=664189c6cfbd6e1ac84f929ca2a0b3be
On May 11th we are voting for town council. Voting for candidates who support research and community growth may be scary – but it is also brave. We need to support the Cronk/Dowd ticket or we risk moving backward in terms of community evolution. https://www.cronk-dowdforcouncil.myevent.com/ Want to know more about the candidates for Ridgewood Council? Attend Candidates Night TONIGHT April 19th @ 7:30 in the Town Hall.
I hope that you read this message as a request for bravery and not as a personal agenda. We need to work together as a community or in the blink of an eye it will all be gone – and frankly that is NOT a risk I am willing to take.
Rachel S. Schulties A Concerned Ridgewood Resident
James in the following thread from the Blog… Rachel S. Schulties calls herself “A Concerned Ridgewood Resident”
So as not to cause confusion, I was wondering if you might add a disclaimer at the bottom of the post:
Rachel S. Schulties is not member of the organization “Concerned Residents of Ridgewood”.
CRR will be announcing their recommendations for the candidates this week.
Gov. Chris Christie is trying to solve New Jersey’s chronic bud get problems by cutting spending, including state aid to local schools. But the state’s powerful teacher unions and many school boards are balking — claiming that this will either drive up local property taxes or result in devastating cuts to school services.
In fact, there’s plenty of fat to cut. For proof, just take a close look at the recent hiring and spending patterns of Jersey’s school districts: Both hiring and spending have risen far faster than can be justified by the mild growth in enrollment. Thus, most should have plenty of room to cut spending without major impact.
Given the state’s chronic budget woes, the schools’ hiring spree defies logic. Since 2001, just as budget problems began in earnest, public-school enrollment in Jersey has risen by less than 3 percent, or slightly more than 36,000 students. But total school hiring (full-time employees and equivalents) has jumped by 14 percent, or nearly 28,000 employees, according to federal Census statistics.
That’s right: Jersey’s schools have added three-quarters of an employee for every new student — during a period of deep fiscal pain for the state. Most of the new hires were teachers — which is more than one new instructional worker for every two new students.
The hiring spree, along with rich benefit increases, has fueled payrolls. Wage costs alone have increased 43 percent since 2001 — well ahead of the inflation rate plus enrollment growth.
But the real budget-buster has been health and pension costs. Between 2001 and 2006 (the latest year data are available), total benefit costs rose by a whopping 115 percent, adding several billion dollars to school costs.
After this runup, outlays are now a whopping $16,000 per student, nearly 60 percent above the national average. Jersey already was a leader in this spending category back in 2001; the spending spree has widened the gap, at great taxpayer cost.
There’s been little educational payoff. Performance on national education-assessment tests has been a mixed bag. On crucial eighth-grade reading tests, for instance, the percentage of Jersey students scoring at or above proficient in 2009 was just 42 percent, up slightly from 38 percent in 2005.
But the spending has deepened the state’s budget and economic problems. Jersey now has the highest combined state and local tax burden in the country — yet has been in an almost perpetual budget crisis since 2001.
To fund state spending, Govs. James McGreevey and Jon Corzine hiked taxes by billions of dollars — devastating the state’s economy. Jersey has had no private job growth in the last decade and missed out even on the 2004-’06 expansion that most other states enjoyed.
But the tax hikes didn’t solve the budget crisis. The key reason: As the above data suggest, the spending hasn’t slowed.
If anything, the numbers suggest that Christie’s approach, which is to finally start weaning local schools off continual increases in state aid, is the only way to bring spending in line.
In response, the teacher unions (and allied school boards) are trying to prompt a crisis. Most locals have refused to renegotiate their contracts with wage and benefit concessions — though Christie has pointed out that if teachers merely accepted a one-year wage freeze and a moderate contribution toward health costs, school districts wouldn’t have to make further cuts.
The unions hope, instead, to present voters with a choice between “devastating” spending cuts or property-tax increases.
Voters shouldn’t buy it. One look at hiring and spending in Jersey suggests its schools are far from starved for resources.
Steven Malanga is senior editor of the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal.
>Candidates Night to be held on April 19 Wednesday, April 7, 2010 The Ridgewood News
The Ridgewood League of Women Voters will sponsor a Candidates Night for the upcoming Village Council election at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 19 in the Village Hall Court Room, 131 N. Maple Ave. The event will be televised on the local cable network.
The candidates will receive four prepared questions in advance, and time will also be given to the public to ask questions. A trained moderator will facilitate the session.
With four residents running for two open seats on the Village Council and both incumbents not seeking reelection, there will be some fresh faces in Ridgewood government following the May 11 municipal elections.
The candidates are: * Bernadette Coghlan-Walsh, a community volunteer who said she can bring that experience and a business background to the Village Council if she is elected.
* Ridgewood Zoning Board of Adjustment member Douglas Cronk, a former commuter and current Ridgewood business owner who decided to run for one of the open council seats to “be involved” in the community.
* Brian Dowd, who has 25 years of experience in commercial real estate, said he “always wanted to get involved” with the community to “maintain and enhance” the qualities of Ridgewood that attracted him to the village in 2005.
* Thomas Riche, a former councilman, is currently a Planning Board member, active in the Office of Emergency Management, and a member of the Site Plan Exemption Committee and the Historic Preservation Commission who said he has “kept my finger on the pulse of things going on in the village.”
Tuesday is Election Day in New Jersey, and this year’s fiscal and economic crisis has created hard choices that demand attention.
I am a product of New Jersey’s public schools. I know how good our schools and hardworking teachers are. I owe a lot to my teachers in Livingston for helping to lay the foundation for my success. But the dedication and quality of our teachers is not in question and never has been. Right now, we are addressing the challenge of providing our children the highest quality education while responsibly addressing New Jersey’s fiscal mess and crippling taxes.
When fewer resources available, local school districts and education associations are being asked to share in the sacrifice. New Jersey is facing a reality that can no longer be ignored.
I have encouraged the teachers’ union leadership to work together in finding savings by implementing a salary freeze for one year. While governments at every level have to do more with less, many public employee unions have continued putting a strain on budgets without regard to changing circumstances. At a time when salary raises are unheard of in private industry across New Jersey and when harmful tax hikes are at the doorstep for many communities, it is unreasonable to have union leadership continue to demand raises from taxpayers. A simple fact: According to the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, during 2007-2008, 40 percent of the workers in New Jersey’s private sector had their wages frozen or reduced.
A recent Rasmussen poll found that 65% of New Jerseyans support the idea of administrators, teachers and school workers sharing in the sacrifice. School salary and benefits costs in New Jersey are the highest in the nation and they are rising at over three times the rate of inflation. Unreasonable salary demands in the face of this fiscal reality is irresponsible and costing teaching jobs and student programs.
In the face of these difficulties, we are seeing action take place across the state. Districts and education associations are coming together. Just this past week, the Red Bank Education Association ratified a contract that froze salaries for three years. The Superintendent of the Schools, Laura Morana, acknowledge the collaborative relationship between the district and the association before going on to say, “They recognize these are challenging times and wanted to do what’s in the best interest of the kids.”
Superintendent Morana’s words represent the shared sacrifice of many others across New Jersey. It is the reason why I am proposing to provide additional state aid to school districts that negotiate a salary freeze to the amount equivalent to both the Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes that would have otherwise been paid on the foregone salary increase. The Social Security payroll tax is 6.2 percent of earnings up to $106,800 and the Medicare tax is 1.45 percent of earnings with no cap. This means that we are able to offer school districts additional state aid amounting to 7.65 percent of the savings achieved from a one-year salary freeze, or $76,500 on every $1 million saved. Statewide, if savings of $500 million were to be achieved through the one-year salary freeze, the additional school aid payments would total $38,250,000.
When you go to the voting booth on Tuesday, remember that the only way we will get through the challenges of today is by facing them now. Our state, our families and our children can no longer afford government at any level that wishes problems away or stands in the way of necessary change.
There is still time to reopen negotiations and have the teachers union finally agree to reasonable, shared sacrifice — a one year freeze on salaries and a small contribution to health insurance costs. Let us keep our children in the front of our minds.
Send a clear message with your vote. If your teachers union has taken the freeze and your school board had budgeted responsibly, support them with your vote. If they have not, tell them you will not accept higher property taxes to pay for unreasonable raises when all of New Jersey is already sacrificing. Vote against budgets that don’t include shared sacrifice.
>According to the Pascack Press April 19th 2010 the Park Ridge governing body has unanimously voted in favor of adapting an ordinance which will open the municipal pool club to non residents. The recommendation to do this came by way of the Municipal pool Commission which noted a lack of funds stemming from a loss of membership.
Loss of membership for municipal pools is due to many factors and plagues many towns in Bergen County .Its seems Ridgewood is not the only place were town pool membership has declined precipitously and contrary to what we have been lead to believe maybe its not just the sandy bottom and Canadian Geese that has driven pool goers from Graydon’s shores.
A group of Ridgewood High School (RHS)students and several chaperones on a two-week exchange trip in Oelde, Germany,have received an unexpected trip extension because of the volcanic ash plume hovering over much of Europe.
The 15 students and three teachers were scheduled to fly home to New Jersey early Friday morning, said RHS Principal Jack Lorenz. But they received word Thursday night that their flight was canceled because planes cannot fly through the volcanic ash.
Fortunately, Lorenz said, “they are not sitting in the airport in Dusseldorf. Their host families in Oelde have taken them back, and they are safe and comfortable, and having an extended learning experience. Oelde is a beautiful little town.”
>Bill Charlap Trio at West Side Presbyterian Church Parlance Chamber Concerts
Sunday, April 18th at 4PM at West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 S. Monroe Street, Ridgewood. “Mr. Charlap is keyborad wizard who continually surprises…his playing left me breathless” Tickets: $35/Adult; $25/Seniors/Students Information: [email protected]
FAVORITE POEM READING Bring your favorite poem in Now!
Ridgewood Favorite Poems Reading Sunday, April 25 at 3:00 PM at the Ridgewood Public Library, 125 N. Maple Avenue, Ridgewood. In celebration of National Poetry Month in April, Ridgewood community members of ALL AGES are invited to share a favorite poem by a published poet, famous or otherwise. Please drop off or email ([email protected]) your favorite poem to the Ridgewood Public Library NOW to be included in a favorite poems display. Then join us on Sunday, April 25, to enjoy a variety of favorite poems read by Ridgewood folks, young and old — why not you? The event will be hosted by Celeste Diaz-Estrella — Ridgewood resident, language teacher, and poetry enthusiast. For information, contact Gina Mitgang at 201-670-5600, ext. 110 or [email protected] Link to flyer: https://www.ridgewoodlibrary.org/images/Favorite%20Poem%20Project%202010.pdf
>During the recent Ridgewood Water Boil Alert, some Ridgewood residents were not notified through the calls made by Bergen County Emergency Management. In the future if you would like to be sure that your phone number is on their list, this information may be of interest to you.
To be included on the BC Emergency Management system, go to their website at https://www.bcoem.org/ and click on the link for Emergency Notification. You will be prompted to set up an account where you can select from several contact options and filter for different categories of alerts. There is also an option to add contact information for caregivers and family members outside of the emergency call area.
Once your account is established you may log in at any time to verify your information and to make changes.
>The State Teachers Union warned of chaos in the classroom and “irreparable damage to every shcool system in the state.” I am not a teacher basher, in fact I think we have a lot of very good to excellent teachers in our system, people who really care about their subjects and the kids in their classroom. I know my kids come home from school each day happy and having learned something. But somebody has to get the teachers to understand that the tide has turned and their union is not acting in their best interest. Their union has been exposed for what it is; a huge lobbying cartel that uses children as leverage to further demands that can no longer be met in the economics of today. Unions provided a great service to their members throughout history elevating workers out of poverty and abuse. They morphed into machines that elevated workers to levels superior to many who pay their salaries. Just as the stock market can not go up forever, salaries and benefits can’t keep going up either. Unfortunately we now live in a country where almost 45% of people do not pay any federal taxes and public employees on average make more than private sector employees when benefits are included. That simply can not continue.
It has nothing to do with whether someone likes teachers or not. It is simple economics. A society can not continue to grow and expand if fewer and fewer people are paying for it and the ones that are paying for it are forced to pay more and more. The State of NJ is a microcosm of what is happening in our country. We’ve taxed and spent, spent and taxed and now there is no one left to tax but plenty of people who want to spend. Things have to change, economically there is no alternative. Property values are going down, tax receipts are going down, private sector incomes are going down, spending simply can not go up, the negative spread has gotten too wide.
Unfortunately all great societies come to an end at some point. See the Romans, the British Empire, etc….We are past the beginning of the end of the American Empire. Our moral fabric has been destroyed, (see Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, Enron, Madoff, all the gossip magazines, etc…) our will to make tough decisions and live with the results is gone, our standing in the world has been severly damaged, we no longer have the respect of our allies and we are no longer feared by our enemies. Economically the United States is only now years away from being bankrupt. China is going to own the United States, they probably already do.
Everything needs to be looked at in context. The potential of 30,000 teachers retiring sounds frightening. I’ll take the other side. I’d love to see 30,000 new, young, hungry, enthusiastic teachers enter the system, teachers who haven’t been jaded by the system and the union, 30,000 new teachers who realize how tough it is to find a job in any profession, 30,000 new faces bringing fresh ideas to stale schools, 30,000 new teachers that know they are better than the system and they don’t need the false protection of tenure but would love the opportunity for merit based pay so they can make more money than the artifical pay scale that holds them to the same standards as everyone else. Change is good, it isn’t easy, but it is good. Let’s try it, it can’t be worse than what we have now.
During a municipal budget review held on Wednesday April 14th, Dylan Hansen, the Village’s Network Administrator, publically revealed that 102 Village of Ridgewood employees are currently using cell phones that were paid for by Ridgewood taxpayers. Additionally, all monthly usages fees, in connection with business and/or personal calls, are also paid by Ridgewood taxpayers.
Clearly, the Village Manager and Village Council were either asleep at the switch or absent when cell phones were distributed at Village Hall. It is not possible that there are 102 Village employees whose positions warrant unlimited business and personal use of taxpayer provided cell phone service. This is simply an outrageous situation that must be brought to an immediate end.
The Fly has several questions for the Village Council:
1) What is the percentage of Village employees who have taxpayer provided cell phone service?
2) What is the formal approval process for obtaining taxpayer provided cell phone service?
3) When an employee retires, resigns, or is terminated, is someone checking to make certain that taxpayers aren’t continuing to provide the individual with cell phone service?
4) Is there a list kept of who has these phones or do we just know that 102 are out there? Is the list available for public viewing?
5) Is the value of cell phone service for personal use being reported as income on W2 forms?
The Fly suggests that now is the right time for Village Council members to hang up most of the Village issued cell phones.
Sixty-five percent (65%) of New Jersey voters favor a one-year pay freeze on the salaries of administrators, teachers and school workers to reduce the state’s level of local school aid, according to a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey.
Just 28% of voters in the state oppose this pay freeze to meet Governor Chris Christie’s proposed $820 million reduction in school aid. The newly-elected Republican governor is proposing the reduction as part of his effort to close the state’s $11 billion budget deficit.
The state teachers’ union, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), is angrily opposing the proposed pay freeze, saying it will set back education efforts. But 66% of New Jersey voters say the union is more interested in protecting its members’ jobs than in the quality of education. Twenty-four percent (24%) believe the union places the quality of education first.
Fifty-two percent (52%) think public employee unions like the NJEA put a significant strain on the state’s budget. Twenty-eight percent (28%) disagree, while another 20% are not sure.
It’s clear, too, that New Jersey voters are following the budget spat between the new governor and the teachers’ union. Ninety percent (90%) of voters in the state say they have been following news reports about it at least somewhat closely, including 55% who are following very closely
