IRVINGTON, NJ — At Irvington Municipal Council’s first special meeting of the new year on Thursday, Jan. 2, a temporary budget was passed for Calendar Year 2020.
A resolution was also passed for Calendar Year 2020 debt service.
“Irvington passed a temporary budget for the next 90 days as it starts its budget process,” said Mayor Tony Vauss to the Irvington Herald in a phone interview on Monday, Jan. 6.
Council President Renee Burgess sent a text to the Irvington Herald on Monday, Jan. 6, saying the temporary budget is the state-approved process for municipalities to fund operations prior to adopting a full budget. Since the state deadlines are related to developing and approving that a budget runs through the first quarter of each year, the state allows municipalities to fund themselves temporarily until the actual budget for the year can be approved by the council.
Debt service payments are treated differently, continued Burgess. While municipalities can only partially fund themselves at the start of the year, a municipality’s debts can be fully funded by the council to ensure there is no default in the payment of money owed by the municipality, such as contributing pension payments for employees or the repayment of bond notes that funded a municipality’s capital projects in prior years.
Irvington clerk Harold Wiener said in a phone interview on Monday, Jan. 6, that the debt service is a resolution to appropriate monies to fund the municipal debt service for Calendar Year 2020. Designed to cover the whole year, this will cover payment and interests on bonds and notes that the township will incur for the year 2020.
The appropriation to fund the temporary municipal budget, which covers the everyday services of the town such as gasoline in the police cars, street cleaning, snow removal, garbage pickup, funding payrolls, etc., will be for the first three months of the year, continued Wiener.
The budget amount for 2018 was $114,560,031.81, he said.
Wiener said six council members voted unanimously for each of the matters discussed at the special meeting, including the resolution of the temporary municipal budget and the 2020 debt service. The majority of the votes were necessary. Councilman Paul Inman was unable to attend the special meeting, but had an excused absence, said the clerk.
“The budget voted on will best fit the needs of our residents and city,” Burgess said in a quote sent to the Irvington Herald. “Much time and energy was put in by our capable administration and council to assure that we are receiving the best bang for our buck.”
“Now we must move forward, educating our Irvington residents about how important it is to complete the 2020 Census,” she continued. “We are urging all residents to participate, as this will secure funding that will offset taxes, while increasing our chances in receiving more grants for programs that will improve the quality of life for all that reside in Irvington.”
“I want to take this opportunity to thank Musa Malik (business administrator) and Faheem Ra’Oof for their time, experience and expertise in ensuring a smooth process.” Burgess added.
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