>None of this is going to be fun but the time has come to pay the bills. We’ve all lived on atificially low interest rates, easy credit and the tidal wave of Real Estate appreciation that was created. Those days are over. Real Estate (the basis for our taxes) has depreciated 20% to 30% in our area, public sector salaries and benefits have not, and that has to change.
We need to totally change the mind set of the BOE and the employees. 3.5+% annual raises, and full retirement and health care packages are things of a bygone era. For years the BOE has managed the budget to the 4% annual increase allowed by law. We need to change that mentality. Lay-offs have already started and with the Governor proposing a 2.5% cap on annual budget increases going forward and the BOE and Union already locked in to annual increases greater than that the problem is going to get worse not better as “the negative spread” between revenues and expenses widens. It is simple economics, you can’t run a business for very long if your expenses are more than your revenues.
The BOE needs to begin laying the ground work to roll back salary tiers 10% in the next contract negotiation. If our State aid is being reduced, the natural result should be a reduction in costs. (i.e. salaries) It is very simple, in my business if my revenues are down for the year my employees make less, period. If a teacher (As well as Administrator) is making $90,000 per year, the new contract should roll that back to $81,000. The only way we can afford to keep our schools at the level they are at is to cut salaries and benefits. Towns like Ridgewood, Chatham, Mendham, Wyckoff, etc… are going to end up with zero state dollars. It is bad enough when salaries and benefits are 80% to 85% of our budget, what do you think it is going to be like when they are 90% to 95% of our budget?
It will be a disaster. The combination of 90% of the budget going to salaries and benefits combined with facilities maintenance and repairs will take up the entire budget. There will be no bands, no plays, no athletics, nothing, as the BOE simply will not have the money for any activities, but the employees will be well paid, fully covered for health care, and set for life in retirement.
The natural reaction will be that a 10% roll back is too extreme, “the backlash will be too great,” “there has to be another way,” “the teachers will strike.” Real unemployement is running around 15%, there are very talented people looking for jobs, I don’t think we’d have any problem finding people to teach in the Ridgewood School System however, the BOE needs to get that thought process in their heads now and express to the Union that they are serious so that every one is prepared for it when it comes to fruition in the next year or two.
By the way, the Village Council should be thinking the same way in regards to Police, Fire, and DPW workers.
