Jackson council is trying to address budgetary issues

Emily Ingram

Guest Column

In response to recent editorials written by Robert Schiappacasse, Sean Giblin and Michael Kafton, the Jackson Township Council feels it is time to respond. When (Township Administrator) William Santos and Mayor Mark Seda put together the 2006 township budget, it was already September. They presented to council a budget as well as back-up information from each department. Each council person worked independently in reviewing the budget.

I personally spent several hours reviewing the information and comprised a list of approximately 30 questions, mostly dealing with salaries and the various increases. I approached the "review process" as if I were given a budget for a business and trying to a) question the purpose of the expenditures; and b) where can we cut.

After communicating with Mr. Santos, he explained that most of the salaries were contractual in nature and so were the increases, therefore nothing could be done as far as asking employees to sacrifice with us and take a lesser increase; it was also explained that the various expenditures have not only been incurred but have been paid for by the prior administration. So how can one cut from something that has already been spent?

All three gentlemen would have known this had they actually shown up or had spent more then 10 minutes at the budget workshop. What they fail to understand is that we, the council people as well as the mayor live here in Jackson, we pay real estate taxes and this increase affects us as well as our family and friends and we are not happy with this increase.

They also fail to understand that the budget Mr. Santos and Mayor Seda prepared was during September for a calendar year budget. Obviously when you prepare a budget nine months into the year, most of the money has already been spent. You cannot change what already has been spent or has been obligated.

Also, it is important to understand that when we campaigned, we stating that we wanted open government, and wanted the people of Jackson to become more involved.

Why didn't Mr. Schiappacasse, Mr. Giblin and Mr. Kafton come to town hall to review the budget, and actually attend all three budget workshops and ask questions to each department head, make suggestions and attend the subsequent budget hearing during which the budget was approved by council? It's amazing how three intelligent men could easily point their finger and not take advantage of actually locking arms with the current administration and work toward helping Jackson.

We also campaigned stating that our goal was to operate the township like a business, well, if one were to purchase a business that had previously overspent and over-borrowed, that person would have to do at least three things:

1) clean up the mess they were left with by analyzing what was done and starting corrective actions - that was accomplished by analyzing the finances of the township and putting together a budget that is necessary;

2) one would put forth plans to help streamline the business, watch the expenses, and put forth a game plan to run more efficiently - well, that is being done by having the business administrator look at every purchase requisition and purchase order to ascertain that money is not being spent foolishly, also, council has sat with each department head in getting an understanding of how each department is working and how we could help in making each department work more efficiently as well as opening lines of communication with the Board of Education, in hopes of cutting costs and working more efficiently;

3) the third step is to have the business in a position that can operate more efficient, to have control over spending, reduce borrowing and prosper.

All these steps in a business environment would take several years. We, the township officials, have been in our position only three-and-a-half months. The three [men] need to realize it takes time and we are open to suggestions, and the sharing of resources and ideas.

"Fiscal responsibility," another campaign message that we had, takes time and work and believe me we have been working! So please, understand we are not happy with the tax increase, but we were left with no choice. As a matter of fact, I prepared a spread sheet showing a column with (former administrator Andrew) Mr. Salerno's budget and one with Mr. Santos' budget and [one can see that] the tax increase was anticipated back in May when Mr. Salerno prepared the budget.

It's amazing that Mr. Kafton and Mr. Giblin are complaining about a tax increase which they had budgeted for. Perhaps they did not even take the time to look at their own budget, which cost the taxpayers money to prepare. The facts show that the prior administration knew very well the money that had been spent, how the borrowing had increased and where their "one time" source of income had come from and this is probably why they worked with a temporary budget and avoided actually passing their budget. I guess it is easier to pass the buck and point the finger.

I know firsthand how hard we are working, and how committed we are to the residents of Jackson and how much we want to do the right job. We all need to work together for the benefit of our township, for each other the residents of Jackson. So Mr. Schiappacasse, Mr. Giblin and Mr. Kafton, you have spent a combined total of 20 minutes of the 16 hours of the budget workshop, and if you were sincerely interested in Jackson you would have come and shared your ideas. We still openly encourage you to come and share your ideas. Stop playing politics and put Jackson first, we are looking for solutions not complaints.

Emily Ingram is a member of the Jackson Township Council and wrote this Your Turn guest column on behalf of the governing body.