End of Year 2010 Mayors Message
2010 was another challenging year for Washington Borough. We accomplished much, but still have significant work to do in 2011. Thanks go to all our staff for these accomplishments.
We say farewell to Victor Cioni, and Terry Housel, from council. These 2 gentlemen care deeply for our community, and their service will be missed. We welcome 2 new members to our council, Robert Torres, and Justin Jewell. These gentlemen also care for the health and well being of our town, and I welcome them to council.
This year we were able to complete the Downtown Streetscape Project, and finish the Borough Garage. Both of these projects had their own unique challenges, but construction is now finished. We anticipate some contract issues in finishing the garage paperwork, but our confident they will be worked out.
Sewer billing has been brought in house, as opposed to our having an outside organization provide this service. Billing will be done quarterly now, where it was done monthly before. These changes will save the Borough approximately $60,000 dollars.
We moved our court to Mansfield Township. This makes sense because the police that serve our area will now all go to the same court. It also saves us from having to upgrade our facilities to comply with State standards. The anticipated savings are about $55,000 dollars.
We investigated the feasibility of closing our library and joining the Warren County Library system. The pros of joining the County Library are that our citizens would have a few more services, and longer operating hours. The cons were that people would have to travel farther, and it would be more expensive. It was suggested that this be a ballot question, but council decided against putting it on the ballot.
We were pleased to receive $400,000 dollars in Transitional Aid from the state of NJ. Accepting this money also caused us to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the State of NJ. This agreement is not selling our soul as some have suggested. It just means that the state wants to be involved in our decision making, to ensure that things are being done according to law. I have no fear of this agreement, as we now do everything according to the law.
Franklin Township has joined with our Municipal Alliance. This is a minimal cost saving for both communities, but a savings none the less. Both communities send to the same regional school district, so this also makes sense from a logistics standpoint.
Looking ahead
This year we have to deal with a 2% tax levy cap. There are some exemptions, but we must find a way to cut about $650,000 dollars from the budget to meet this cap. The people voted to keep garbage in our taxes, and this counts against the cap. The people also voted for a forensic audit to be done, and we are unsure how this will affect our cap numbers. We await guidance from the state on how to handle these issues.
Some of the things we will be doing this year include:
- Finding ways to save energy
- Continue service sharing
- Finding ways to make the pool profitable
- Provide a less expensive means of garbage collection
- Continue lowering our debt, and not take on new debt
- Reduce reliance on tax anticipation notes
I look forward to making Washington Borough the wonderful community I know it can be. With your help, we can make it happen.
How can you help
The governing body can not do it all. We need your help to make Washington Borough live up to its potential. Here are some things you can do to help.
Recycle everything you can. Garbage and recycling are included in the taxes.
It is more expensive to remove trash than it is to recycle paper, plastic, glass, and cans. You can help lower your taxes by recycling.
Take care of Borough owned property. Every act of vandalism increases your taxes! It doesn’t matter if it’s graffiti, the stealing or damage of street signs, or the outright destruction of borough owned property. It increases your taxes! If you witness any of these acts, please call the police immediately.
If at all possible, pay your taxes on time. Even a partial payment will help. We have had to borrow money to pay our bills also. The less we have to borrow, the less interest we will pay, and ultimately, the less you will need to give us. Partial payments could also lower the interest rate for the balance you may owe.
Shopping in Washington when possible will give a boost to our local economy. If we support our businesses, more businesses will come to town. The more businesses we have in town, the more revenue that will come to the town. The increase in revenue will help lower the taxes! The more businesses that we have, the more jobs we will have.
We have a number of volunteer opportunities in our community. Help us out. Donate some of your time and talent to make Washington Borough a better place to live. I have.
