Advisory panel requests 'accurate' data

Say Orange provided 'incomplete,' 'misleading' financial report

Wednesday, November 19,202008

BY KEVIN C. DILWORTH

Star-Ledger Staff

Members of Orange's Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, in response to a proposed spending plan that carries an 18.6 percent municipal property tax hike, are requesting the city council provide more detailed, truthful and accurate financial information.

The chairman of the volunteer group, who did not speak during a council meeting that began Monday and ended early yesterday morning, also is asking the city to initiate an immediate hiring freeze and seek an audit.

"The committee has been working hard over the past few weeks, studying the proposed (2008-09) fiscal-year budget," said Bruce Meyer, chairman of the 14-member volunteer group appointed by council members.

"We have closely analyzed financial documents provided to us by the administration, listened to presentations, questioned department heads, reviewed previous years' budget documents, including budget advisory committee recommendation reports, and consulted with financial experts, in and outside the committee," Meyer said.

However, "we have unanimously concluded that documents and testimony presented by the city administration, in support of their proposed budget, have been, at best, inaccurate, incomplete and misleading," Meyer said. "Even if we had been presented materials in a timely manner, an accurate assessment of the basic state of Orange's municipal finances would not have been possible."

The committee recommends the council enact an immediate hiring freeze, "with exceptions only for critical roles or positions that carry skills to reorganize government, or that result in net savings," Meyer said.

Without a review, the council introduced a $57 million spending plan for 2008-09, submitted by Mayor Eldridge Hawkins Jr.'s administration, Meyer said. The package requires a $35.9 million municipal levy -- $5.2 million more than the previous budget.

The budget introduction allowed the city to file an extraordinary aid financial application with the state Department of Community Affairs in Trenton. The council, still awaiting word on state aid, has not yet set a date to adopt Orange's budget.

Meyer said his group -- committed to slashing operating costs and identifying waste and fraud in Orange City Hall -- needs at least 14 additional items to continue its cost-cutting work.

They include more detailed sources of revenue, municipal department by municipal department; a comprehensive list of all municipal-related debt, with sources, dates, refinancing details, purposes and restrictions; grants received, the source, category and matching-fund requirements; a minimum five-year summary of tax collection rates; and a current and "accurate employee list, with salaries and stipends," Meyer said.

The committee also seeks to get a "current, accurate, employee list, with jobs descriptions and responsibilities," documentation about all procurement methods, including the way Orange bids for services; a list of all employees eligible for retirement, with department and hiring dates, and with the number of owed sick days, Meyer said.

An audit of Orange's municipal government operations, especially in the wake former Mayor Mims Hackett Jr. having pleaded guilty to bribery and attempted extortion, is long overdue and needed, Meyer said.

Jewel Thompson Chin, the city's acting business administrator, yesterday told the council Orange is preparing to seek contract bids for the audit.

Meyer said just a review of payroll and related group health insurance costs, and travel expense reimbursements should help yield financial savings, "identify areas of fraud and waste," and identify programs that can immediately lower labor-related costs.

"Labor unit labor costs, and programs like job sharing, will help keep as many people on the payroll as possible, within budget limitations," he said.

The budget committee generally feels that vacant municipal positions should be eliminated, "unless absolutely necessary, and filled within a defined and imminent period of time," Meyer said.

Also, "union contracts should be revisited, with the goal of tightening work rules, increasing efficiencies and lowering costs," Meyer said. "Health care costs and co-pays should more closely match private sector employee contributions. Future new hires should have renegotiated=2 0benefit and health rules."

Kevin C. Dilworth may be reached at kdilworth@starledger.com or at (973) 392-4143.