Politics & Government

Manager Asked for Suggestions to Cut Tax Rate Hike

At Tuesday's council meeting, Lawrence Township Mayor Greg Puliti asked Township Manager Richard Krawczun to review the proposed 2011 budget to look for ways to possibly reduce by one penny the 6 cent increase to the township tax rate proposed for 2011.

Lawrence Township Municipal Court Judge Paul Catanese and Department of Public Works Director Greg Whitehead presented their annual budget reports to the members of township council at their meeting on Tuesday (April 5).

Afterward, Township Manager Richard Krawczun discussed several capital expenditures proposed for 2011, while Mayor Greg Puliti asked Krawczun to review the proposed 2011 budget in its entirety to look for ways to possibly reduce by one penny the .

“I’m going to ask you to do a little work,” Puliti said to Krawczun. “I’m going to ask the hard question. And I know, having done this a few times, it’s more or less what services are we not going to do to reduce the budget that you presented to us. Could you just go back and see what it would take to do a penny on what you gave us and see what that would do and what cuts that would entail to give us some idea of how far we can go. I think one penny is going to give us a vision of what we need to see. I think we’re certainly obligated to the public to look at that.”

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Under the 2011 budget as currently proposed, the municipal tax rate would rise from the current 78 cents per $100 of assessed property value to 84 cents. That would mean the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $161,292 would pay a total of $1,354.85 in municipal taxes for the year – or $96.77 more than if that tax rate remained at 78 cents. Shaving off one penny from the proposed tax rate increase would save the average property owner $16.13 for the year.

With now concluded, the council will hold deliberations on the proposed budget at its next meeting on April 21, when Krawczun will report back on his findings about possible ways to cut the requested penny from the proposed rate increase. It is anticipated that the council will formally introduce the township’s 2011 budget at the following meeting to be held on May 3, with a public hearing and final adoption of that budget to take place later in the month.

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Among the capital expenditures requested by the township’s various departments and which Krawczun is recommending be approved are the purchase for the public works department of a new 20-ton dump truck with plow and sander that was described by Whitehead as essential to the success of future snow plowing efforts. Also recommended was the allocation of $40,000 toward architectural and other preliminary design work for a new salt storage facility for public works. That building’s total cost is estimated at about $210,000.

Krawczun also recommended the allocation of $500,000 in 2011 and another $500,000 in 2012 for the purchase of a new aerial fire truck to replace the 20-year-old Snorkel ladder truck currently operated by Slackwood Volunteer Fire Co. He also made mention of a $20,000 allocation to buy new self-contained breathing apparatus units for township firefighters.

Also discussed were over $500,000 in capital expenditures recommended for resurfacing and/or other improvements to the parking lot of the township’s public works facility and the following public roads: Johnson Avenue, Short Johnson Avenue, Lawrence Station Road, Springwood Drive and Woodlane Road.

(Editor’s Note: A copy of the requested capital expenditures, accompanied by Krawczun’s recommendations, can be viewed from the PDF box above.)  

Krawczun further discussed possible changes to two multi-use athletic fields the township is building on the grounds of the former Twin Pines airport off Lawrenceville-Pennington Road. He noted that a savings of $100,000 could be gained by changing from the stone that was previously planned for drainage under the fields and instead using a geocomposite material for drainage similar to the type used at the new football stadium in the Meadowlands.

He went on to discuss the costs associated with applying grass seed to the fields versus using sod – with the sod costing $151,000 more. He noted that there is always a risk that seed will not grow properly and additional seed may be needed, whereas by opting for sod the fields would be useable faster, would provide a better, more-uniform playing surface and would still be able to accommodate an irrigation system for keeping the grass green.

After some discussion, council – minus Councilman Bob Bostock, who was out of town on business – agreed to switch to the geocomposite material for drainage and, in turn, put the resulting $100,000 savings toward the purchase of sod over grass seed. Council went on to approve paying the remaining $51,000 of the sod cost as well as an additional $18,000 for parking lot excavation work to be performed at the same time the sod is installed. The actual construction of the parking lot on the former Twin Pines land will cost additional money beyond the $68,000, it was noted.

During his annual report on the township’s court operations, Judge Catanese reported that about 11,600 cases were filed in 2010 with the court, from drunk driving and motor vehicle violations to various misdemeanor and indictable criminal offenses, as well as local ordinance violations. He noted, however, that revenue generated for the township in 2010 by the court in terms of fees and fines dropped by about 15 percent over the previous year.  

While the number of cases filed was slightly less than in 2009, Catanese said he believes the reduction in revenue can be attributed in large part to the state of the economy. “This past year, unfortunately, we found a significant number of people were coming in [who were unemployed] who had lost their unemployment [benefits] and they had no money at all to support themselves and certainly no money to pay fines and costs. So we were in a dilemma with that and we found ourselves trying to find ways in which they could, in fact, complete their sentence, which included the paying of fines, when they had no money. And this resulted in us utilizing a section of the statutes that allows for individuals to complete community service in lieu of paying fines,” he explained.

Catanese discussed his concerns over the court’s barebones staffing. Noting that there are five fulltime employees and two part-time security screeners, he spoke of how difficult it can be if someone calls off sick at that same time as another employee is away on a scheduled vacation.

“This limited number of staff has presented us with some pretty challenging situations, especially on our court days,” he said. “I have to say that, unfortunately, for the first time in the 15 years that I have been sitting here as the judge, on occasion, on court days, our phone sometimes doesn’t get answered. And we pride ourselves, always, in answering that phone. No matter who calls, they get answered right away and we address their issue. I’m a little concerned about that – that we’re not providing services to the public. But when you have someone in court, and someone running back and forth, and someone at the window, sometimes if three or four phones are ringing – and they do sometimes – we don’t have people to answer those phones.”

Catanese asked council to consider hiring – as in past years – a part-time employee who could work 10 hours a week to answer phones and help with administrative duties, even if for just three months of the year during peak vacation periods.

“If we just had someone for a 12-week period for 10 hours a week, that might give us the flexibility we need and maybe we’ll be able to make sure we don’t miss any of those phone calls and address the needs of the public,” he said.

During his presentation on the public works department, Whitehead reported that the department is responsible for maintaining over 200 lane miles of streets in the township – including plowing snow and ice from those roads – as well as inspecting and cleaning over 2,000 storm drains annually. The department is also responsible for over 1,000 acres of parks, athletic fields, and other public property, with duties that include tending to the grass, power-washing playground equipment, removing trash and cleaning restroom facilities.

In 2010, he said, public works employees:

  • used 2,000 tons of salt and 3,000 gallons of brine during snow plowing operations (involving about 1,200 regular labor hours and 1,600 overtime hours);
  • collected about 9,000 cubic yards of leaves (involving about 3,100 labor hours, for a cost of $75,582);
  • collected over 16,500 cubic yards of brush (involving 4,319 labor hours, for a cost of about $116,000);
  • collected over 31,900 pounds of metal and “white goods” (involving about 200 labor hours, for a cost of about $7,000, with about $2,600 recovered by selling the metal to scrap merchants);
  • processed 2,600 tons of brush, 134 tons of grass and 6,200 tons of leaves at the ecological facility on Princeton Pike;
  • and maintained over 350 township vehicles, including police, fire and emergency medical service vehicles.

He said the township street sweeper operated on township roads and municipal parking lots for a total 442 hours and collected 482 cubic yards of debris during 2010. Street sweeper costs were about $56,000. He also spoke of the extensive amount of training that public works employees must undergo on topics as wide-ranging as how to operate a forklift to how to file for an air pollution permit for the ecological facility.

“Public works always stands ready to respond to storms, flooding, and emergency tree removal and clearing,” Whitehead noted.

After council members voiced their appreciation for the public works department’s efforts to clear snow from township roadways this past winter, Whitehead said “we’re right at the breaking point of being able to juggle all the balls in the air with snow” with regard to having enough staff to be able to properly respond to snow storms.

“We can cut back on a lot of things, but when it snows you have to have the labor hours and the personnel to deal with it. When it’s 3 in the morning on a Sunday, nobody is coming to help us,” he said.

Also during the meeting:

  • The council approved the awarding of a $25,000 contact to Viviano Construction of Allentown for trail improvements in the form of the construction of wooden walkways through area of Drexel Woods that regularly floods. The funding for the work will come from a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection grant.
  • Mayor Puliti read proclamations issued by the council declaring April to be Autism Awareness Month and Big Brothers and Big Sisters Month in Lawrence.
  • Council approved a resolution that will give Cherry Tree Lane the honorary name of “VFW Post 3022 Way” in recognition of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post’s contributions to the township since the 1930s.


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