Former official questions 'creative' township budget

I was present at the last council meeting, which had the passage of the 2008 budget on the agenda. It was postponed to the next meeting.

I would like to raise a few concerns about the development of the budget, especially how we acquire surplus.

Surplus is money left over from the previous year or profits from the sale of assets. In Brick's case, a major source of surplus is generated from the sale of assets. For example, we received $1.5 million from Ocean County for the purchase of a portion of the Traders Cove property. The budget calls for this money to be placed in surplus to offset current expenses.

Such a plan sounds good, but an ordinance was passed in 2005 to spend $9,240,000 to buy Traders Cove. It was promised that other investors would help pay this off, but they did not materialize, except the county. However, the county's $1.5 million will not go to pay down the $9 million plus, but rather be placed in surplus to pay for current expenses.

We also sell liquor licenses. They generate a hefty source of revenue, but they are one-time shots. Again, the money goes into surplus to pay current expenses. The current expenses stay from year to year and increase, but the liquor license sale is only for one year.

This means you have to sell more licenses each year just to keep up. When will we have enough liquor licenses? These approaches to keeping the tax rate down create a dangerous future for Brick's financial health.

I would also ask about the disparity in the increase of employee group insurance. Between 2006 and 2007, the increase in this line item was $186,000. Steve Acropolis, who was council president last year and running for mayor, took credit for keeping this cost down. Between 2007 and 2008, the increase was $1,342,200. That is an increase of 6.5 times the amount from the previous year. I question whether these amounts have anything to do with the fact that last year was an election year and this year is not.

The voters defeated the school budget. The council was to examine the budget to find savings. They passed it without change. That was great news for the parents and children. But was there a hidden agenda? Here is the other side of the coin.

The township collects the school taxes. They can use next year's school taxes to help balance this year's municipal budget. This is called school tax deferral. This has been going on for years, but last year they used it up. With the increase in the school budget, there was now more money for the town to use in their budget. Does this pass the smell test? I think not!

I could ask many more questions, but you get the picture. The problems are getting bigger. Creative accounting and other gimmicks are adding to the problem.
Frederick J. Underwood
Former Councilman
Brick