Eatontown braces for tough budget year

Eatontown braces for tough budget year
Mayor: Christie warns of state aid cuts
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

EATONTOWN — After spending a day in Trenton, Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo painted a gloomy picture as the borough hurries to draft this year’s budget.

Tarantolo attended the 18th annual Mayors’ Legislative Day in Trenton on Feb. 24, where municipal mayors were told that the state aid they are accustomed to receiving may not be available this year.

“We had an address by our governor, and the news was not good,” Tarantolo said at the Feb. 24 Borough Council meeting. “The message we got from the governor was, don’t count on anything.”

According to a press release from the N.J. League of Municipalities, Gov. Chris Christie was greeted by the more than 200 state mayors in attendance with resounding applause.

“Gov. Christie cautioned local officials of the upcoming budget challenges that lay ahead, advising them that during these challenging economic times they must be leaders for their community and take the ‘leap’ to move forward,” according to the NJLM.

Tarantolo praised Christie for being honest about the state budget crisis and comparing municipal aid to school aid.

“Municipal aid is probably going to be in the same boat as the schools,” the mayor said. “He was very forthright in telling us what the situation is budget-wise in the state.”

Tarantolo said many municipal leaders pleaded for help, but Christie held his ground.

“I call these legislative days as therapy for mayors because they kind of get up and pour their hearts out to the governor,” he said. “He held his ground, and I have to admire him for that.

“He was very forthright in his conviction about the state situation and what we can expect,” he added. “What we can expect is less money — that’s probably a foregone conclusion.”

Tarantolo also said the governor wasn’t the only one to paint a bad picture of the state’s finances.

“We had several state legislators that were part of the discussion, and essentially there was a consensus that the state’s in trouble,” he said.

Tarantolo did promise that the borough would do what it had to do to come up with a responsible budget.

“The aid that we can expect is not going to be there,” he said. “So we’re going to have to sharpen our pencils and we are going to have to take a good, hard look at the impact of the revenue sources that we currently rely on.

“They just may not be there this year. The picture is not good at all.”

Councilman Mark Van Wagner, who serves as chairman of the Finance and Ordinance Committee, said he has met with borough officials and that they are working on a budget.

“We did get a good feel of our past budget and what we are going to do this year,” Van Wagner said. “There are some balls that are still up in the air.”

Van Wagner went on to say that the borough is bracing for a difficult budget.

“We have started looking at the worstcase scenario and will develop a strategy,” he said. “It will be a rough year, but we will deal with it.”

Tarantolo agreed that the budget season might not be as smooth as in the past.

“Obviously, we all know it’s not good,” he said. “From a municipal point of view, we should be apprehensive about what we are going to be getting from the state with regard to municipal aid.”

He went on to say that the problems with state aid to municipalities being withheld is not unique to Eatontown.

“We are not alone; all the municipalities in the state are in the same boat,” he said.

Tarantolo said the borough has a history of trying to help the taxpayers.

“Here in Eatontown we’ve always prided ourselves in maintaining stability,” he said. “We’ve had increases in taxes, but nothing that would knock your socks off. It’s been reasonable increases based on certain things that we did not have control of,” he added. “Those are usually the areas that affected the increases that we have imposed on our residents.”

Tarantolo went on to say that it will be a difficult budget, but he is hoping for control.

“It’s going to be a challenge this year,” he said. “I don’t envy your efforts, but this is going to be a tough year, budget-wise.

“I just wanted to publicly indicate that we are going to do our best to keep things in control within realistic terms for all of our residents,” he said.

Last year the budget reflected nearly $47,000 in state aid reductions, and the year before, there was a $190,000 loss in state aid.

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.


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