EO mayor introduces submits 2016 budget to council

EAST ORANGE, NJ — When East Orange Mayor Lester Taylor introduced his $138,194,520 Calendar Year 2016 Budget to the City Council at the regular meeting on Monday, March 28, he admitted that, while it is the third consecutive year his administration has produced a budget with a tax increase, at 1.9 percent, it is the smallest rate increase yet. After he was sworn into office in 2014, Taylor said he surveyed the city’s fiscal landscape and came to the conclusion some tax increases would be necessary to set the city’s budgetary house in order.

Taylor said his administration viewed the tax increases as investments in the city’s future. And now, he said, this third consecutive increase should be the last one needed to clear the way for East Orange’s economic resurgence.

“After two years of developing and implementing creative and innovative solutions to address years of fiscal mismanagement, there is no doubt that we are getting closer to our end goal: The stabilization of taxes that the residents of East Orange deserve,” said Taylor on Monday, March 28. “The proposed budget that I am introducing tonight brings us one step further to a strong fiscal footing. After much deliberation, we have crafted a budget that comes in at $138,194,520, which includes a 1.9-percent tax levy increase from last year, under the state’s 2-percent cap. In order to continue our progress, we ask for the cooperation and continued support from the members of City Council, all of our hardworking employees and all of the residents and stakeholders of our great city.”

City Council Chairman Ted Green said it’s now up to the city’s governing body to do its job.

“We’re going to deliberate on the budget,” said Green on Monday, March 28. “We have been pledging not to put more burdens on our taxpayers and that’s a promise we intend to keep. I agree that we’re going to do everything that we can to find ways to cut costs and make savings wherever we can for the benefit or East Orange residents, taxpayers and our constituents.”

Third Ward Councilwoman Quilla Talmadge is the chairwoman of the council’s Finance Committee, which is tasked with reviewing and revising the budget to save East Orange taxpayers more money, and she said now that it’s been introduced, they will get to work.

“We’re going to begin with the budget hearings; we have a tentative schedule and we’re looking to adopt the budget by April 28, which would be on time,” said Talmadge on Monday, March 28. “The budget is supposed to be like 1.5-percent under the cap. So, if that’s the case and everything is in order, then we shouldn’t have any problems.”

Talmadge said the hope is the third time’s the charm, when it comes to budgets submitted by the Taylor administration, adding the council is not looking to increase taxes in East Orange, “but the mere fact that (Taylor) can keep it under 2 percent, we can live with it.”

“We’re going to go through the hearings and, if it’s what they say it is, then that means we don’t have a big increase in the budget,” said Talmadge. “We’re getting to go through it and look at each department and look at what they’re asking for, to see if we can cut anymore. If we can do that, then we can lower it even more than it already is.”

Taylor’s first city budget in Calendar Year 2014 produced a one time 4.25-percent tax increase that the City Council eventually reduced to 3 percent. His second budget in Calendar Year 2015 contained a 3.5-percent “tax rate increase for the average household assessed at $175,000” that “equates to an increase in annual taxes of $212.70, or $53.18 every quarter.”

“That’s down nearly 1 point from last year’s increase,” said Taylor on March 23, 2015, when he introduced the Calendar Year 2015 City Budget to the council. “Our goal is to continue this downward trend until we can stabilize taxes by year 2017. Last year, the (East Orange Water Commission) had a $3.7 million deficit. That deficit is now $1.6 million; a closing of a $2 million gap in just six months’ time.”

Last year, Taylor said, “The goal of the new leadership at the EOWC is to completely wipe out the deficit by next year.” That led to the emergency temporary water rate increase that began in August 2015 and lasted until February.

“For the first time in a long time, our water commission will not be financially supported by the city’s budget in order to fulfill shortfalls in their own departmental budget,” said Taylor on Monday, March 28. “That’s $1 million back to the city, to further stabilize our fiscal footing. In the past year, we were able to close the East Orange Water Commission’s budget gap by instituting better management and operational practices, as well as a significant, but temporary, increase of the water rates to bring the commission more line with industry standards.

“Obviously, some of the decisions made by the administration and the City Council were not the most popular things to do, but they needed to be done. We only need to think about Flint, Mich., to be reminded of how important water is to our community. Our rates are more in line with the market rate, which keeps us on track to providing our customers with one of the world’s most valuable resources — clean, safe water.”

Talmadge said she believes Taylor has been as good as his word, when it comes to the fiscal plans his administration laid out for East Orange, when he was sworn into office in 2014. She said it’s the administration’s job to set the city’s goals and it’s the council’s job to help the mayor achieve them responsibly.

Talmadge said it’s a job she and the other council members take very seriously.

“I think the mere fact that it’s getting lower shows that they are making progress; instead of it going up, it’s going down,” said Talmadge. “I’d like to see it come in at zero. But wages go up and health benefits go up and a whole lot of other stuff goes up, so sometimes you may have to have a slight increase. But I’m not looking to increase taxes.”

  East Orange Budget, East Orange City Council, FEATURED