Discussion of the 2017 Salisbury Township budget continued during the Nov. 10 board of commissioners’ workshop, but after approximately one hour, no specific cuts were recommended to reduce a looming deficit.

Next year’s budget is again expected to be discussed at the township board of commissioners’ meeting 7 p.m. Nov. 22. The board is meeting on a Tuesday evening because its regular second-monthly Thursday evening meeting would have been Nov. 24, which is the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

At the Nov. 22 meeting, commissioners are expected to approve the proposed preliminary 2017 general fund budget, after which copies will be available at the township municipal building and on the township website.

“You can move it around however you want, but it still comes out to a deficit,” township Commissioner Debra Brinton said at the start of the Nov. 10 workshop.

“I still feel no new personnel should come on,” Brinton continued, emphasizing she supports hiring personnel approved for the 2016 budget for the township police department and public works department, even though the new positions in each of those departments have not been filled.

The new employees, once hired, would bring township staff to 56 full-time employees.

See BUDGET on Page

Absent from the Nov. 10 meeting were Commissioner James Seagreaves and township Commissioner President James A. Brown.

Commissioner Vice President Robert Martucci Jr., who was absent from the Oct. 27 township meeting when the 2017 budget was first aired, chaired the Nov. 10 meeting, which included Commissioner Joanne Ackerman and Brinton.

The 2017 General Fund budget figures presented to the board are:

Revenue: $7,682,800

Operating Expenses: $7,612,215

Non-operating Expenses (Capital): $759,340 plus (Debt): $184,400

The projected deficit for 2017 from the figures presented is $873,155.

Brinton opposes the hiring of a township human resources director, which is proposed by Salisbury Township Manager Randy Soriano.

“Is there someone who could take on extra responsibilities?” Brinton asked.

“Maybe it’s time to have someone come in, a consultant, to assess how everyone is doing his or her job,” Brinton said, adding, “An efficiency expert.

“We have approximately 15,000 persons and 5,000 households, and they all have bills to pay,” Brinton said.

“I did notice some of the paving materials were cut out,” Brinton said, noting $190,000 originally budgeted was reduced to $130,000 under public works, whereas last year $150,000 was spent.

“If you don’t do it, isn’t it going to cost more to repair it?” Brinton asked.

Replied Salisbury Township Director of Public Works John Andreas, “$150,000, I felt was realistic.”

Added Brinton, “$150,000 is more what we’re going to end up this year.”

Brinton asked Salisbury Township Assistant Manager-Director of Finance Cathy Bonaskiewich to explain the reason for the projected 2017 deficit.

“There is no one main thing that’s making the difference. And I have pored over this,” Bonaskiewich said.

“No matter what you do, you’re going to have a structural deficit,” Soriano said.

“You’re not getting the real estate transfer tax,” Soriano said.

Referring to the expected 2017 township budget deficit, Martucci said, “I tried to figure out how we can cut it. There’s not a lot of areas that we can cut to save.

“We need to take a look at our fire companies,” Martucci continued. “We put a lot of money in it. Can we combine the two?” There are two fire companies: Eastern and Western. “We need to do a study. I think we need to bring in an outside consultant.”

“It seems to me we’re duplicating on some equipment,” Martucci said of the fire companies.

“The fire fund doesn’t have enough funds, so we fill in,” Bonaskiewich said. Western’s new fire truck will cost about $600,000, with $200,000 of that provided in state funding and the township helping to provide the remainder.

Said Salisbury Township Chief of Police Allen W. Stiles, “We should hire somebody from the outside and have them look at the fire companies and tell us what needs to be done.

“And I also would ask them to study the police department and see what we can do,” Stiles said.

Brinton requested Soriano present to commissioners a list of the township personnel budget.

Bonaskiewich said the township’s general fund went down from about $7 million seven years ago to about $2 million.

“The issue that I have is that people are spending a lot more on health care and I don’t feel good about raising taxes,” Martucci said.

“Our township has not grown and there’s not going to be any room to grow,” Ackerman said.

“There’s not enough revenue coming in,” Soriano said.