Ridgewood citizens panel helps village with budget preparations
Monday, November 25, 2013
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — Village officials are using a different approach during the annual budget process this year — crafting a spending plan with help from their Financial Advisory Committee.
The panel was formalized four months ago. Seven residents, all with backgrounds in business, meet monthly to provide insights and recommendations to the council on spending matters.
The numbers-crunchers recently attended a council meeting to suggest a “more streamlined” budget process for the coming months.
The Financial Advisory Committee has already met with the interim village manager as well as the chief finance officer. The group is proposing wholesale changes in the budget process. For example, it wants Ridgewood’s operating and capital budgets to be considered jointly.
“The capital and operating budget processes are separate and succinct,” Roberta Sonenfeld, vice chairwoman of the committee, told the council at a recent meeting.
“That struck us,” Sonenfeld said. “Usually those things are done hand-in-hand. The immediate recommendation here was to combine those two processes in the 2014 budget.”
Sonenfeld said this could halve the time the budget process takes.
Chris Harris reporter for North Media covers Ridgewood very well I believe.
We need more like him.