I have posted your Frequently Asked Questions here. These are questions I have heard during the last two years and as I am campaigning. Please email me with any other questions you may have at anytime!
Q. Why haven’t you lowered the salaries of our highly paid employees?
A. There are many laws that protect our four main employees: the municipal clerk, the CFO, the tax collector and the tax assessor. We cannot legally lower their salaries or benefits and we have to give them the same increases that any other employee receives. Please see the link from our township website on some of the laws that protect our employees. Also, no one can fire anyone without proper cause and without a hearing. To do otherwise will bring lawsuits and legal fees and settlement expenses against our township. The tenure rules for these employees are very similar to that of public school teachers. Lopatcong is also a Civil Service town, and must follow all of the Civil Service rules and regulations as far as salary reduction and staff reduction are concerned.
To help reduce expenses, we are actively looking into many Shared Services opportunities, and will implement them if they are beneficial to our township.
Q. Why do you pay our board secretaries when meetings are cancelled? Shouldn’t you dock their pay when meetings are cancelled?
A. This would only make sense if attending meetings was their ONLY responsibility. It is not. They have many other responsibilities, even when there are no meetings scheduled.
Q. Does the pool really make money?
A. Yes, the pool really makes money. That money is then put back into the pool and parks for repairs, upgrades and capital improvements. Thanks to the pool, we have been able to pay for many park related expenses without having to pass those costs onto the tax payer.
Q. It’s been the same people on council for the last 15 years, so why should I vote for you?
A. Our ‘current administration’ consists of myself and two councilpersons that started in January 2013, and also a councilwoman that started in January 2014. Only our current mayor has been in office longer than any of us, and he is not seeking re-election.
Q. You raised my taxes by 15.5% in 2013, why did you increase our budget so much? Shouldn’t we be cutting expenses?
A. We DID cut expenses in 2013. Our 2013 budget was $500,000 LESS than the year before! So why did your taxes have to go up? The town was revalued, and we lost over $200,000,000 in the value of our ratables due to the economic down turn in real estate. Your tax rate is determined by how much money we need to run the town, and the current value of our ratables. Unfortunately that meant a tax increase for us all, in spite of the expense cutting.
The municipal portion of your taxes did increase in 2013. The 15.5% represents the difference between the 2012 municipal tax rate of 0.373 to the 2013 municipal tax rate of 0.431. The municipal portion of your 2013 tax bill was 16%, and 1% was for municipal open space tax. That is all that mayor and council control. The rest of your bill, the other 83%, is controlled by the school board and the county. That means that on a tax bill of $10,000 – only$1700 went directly to Lopatcong. All the rest, the other $8300, went to the school and the county.
In 2012, the average home of $230,000 paid $857.90 in municipal tax.
In 2013, the average home of $230,000 paid $991.30, for an increase of $133.40.
Each penny increase in the municipal tax rate equates to an additional $23 per year for the average homeowner. A penny equates to about $86000 in township expenses.
The calculation is this: tax rate(.431) x value in thousands(2300) = municipal tax rate = $991.30
Q. What about the 2014 Budget?
A. I voted NO on the 2014 budget because I think we could have saved enough on our OE line items to reduce the rate by at least a penny. Our 2014 did include some much needed capital expenses however, and I fully support those. We must keep up our roads and equipment for the sake of public safety. But we also need to bring expenses down or keep them in check, as well as build up some surplus. It’s a fine balancing act. I’m already working on next year’s budget and have asked all the department heads that deal with equipment to give us their 5 year needs projection. I would also like to see some new line items on the budget, such as a legal fees line item to help us track legal expenses across the departments, including those incurred by council.
Q. You say we need more commercial ratables. Are you looking to bring in more heavy industry, such as the asphalt plant?
A. NO. Through our EDAC, we are hard at work to find and attract businesses that fit our way of life. We need smart commercial ratables to help our bottom line. I want Lopatcong to keep its rural character, but also be the place you can shop, work and play. Together we can accomplish this if we remain professional and positive.
Q. How can you be Mayor? Isn’t it a full time position?
A. Easily. It is not a full time position. The mayor, by law, cannot even have a key to the offices of the Clerk, Tax Assessor, Tax Collector, CFO, or the Police. The workload will be the same as what I have now. I have some of the busiest and most productive committees. I put a lot of time and effort into them, and I’m always looking in all other areas for ways we can improve. I am also Council President and have stepped in for the mayor many times, both at meetings, for administrative purposes and other engagements as needed. We are set up as a Small Municipality under the Faulkner Act. The Mayor must act with council. The Mayor has a vote, but no veto. Most appointments must be made with consent of council. Our department heads run their departments, and many are governed by NJ statutes, not the Mayor and Council.
Lori Ciesla for Mayor 