The missing municipal budget – As of noon on May 5, the Town website’s agenda for the May 7 regular meeting of Council provides not a single word about introducing the 2024 budget. According to state regulation, (Click Here, p. 2), Teaneck should have approved the introduction of this 2024 municipal budget at its April 2, 2024 meeting. The Town Manager indicated that would be done at the April 16 meeting. It was not. It apparently will not be included in this May 7 meeting.
State officials began threatening individual fines for municipal officials in 2014 when Teaneck was last out of budget approval compliance. Apparently Council’s budget subcommittee is engaged in closed session meetings seeking either: 1) expenditure cuts from the 6.99% increase first recommended by Manager Kazinci at the 3/14 Council budget meeting; or 2) finding new revenue by adding gimmicks such as quick selling the Town’s cell tower. Meanwhile the public is without either information or opportunity for input.
It is noteworthy that meanwhile the Board of Educations “preliminary 2024-5 budget” was publicly introduced at BOE’s April 17 meeting, after which School Superintendent Spencer took that budget on a 3-school “Roadshow” where publicly-suggested changes were recorded. This public input led to specific revisions in the final BOE budget that were publicly described by the school district’s business manager prior to the 6 to 1 BOE trustees vote for the final budget on May 1.
What is happening with the DPW site at 1600 River Road? The Council has, without any explanation, approved non-bid contracts for 1) site renovation engineering and 2) yet another environmental assessment. Are there unspecified concept plans for this long-troubled municipal property? As early as 2016 the township planner reported the on-site risks to both DPW workers and residents bringing recycled material.
The Manager’s 6-year Capital Improvement Plan calls for $1M per year for 6 years for the “DPW facility” (Click Here, pp 185) indicating that some plan exists – but it remains publicly unexplained.
The Redevelopment Plan for American Legion & Beverly Road: Town Planner Spach Trajan announced (reading from her PP slides) at the end of the March 27 meeting that the 3/27 meeting was the “last opportunity for input before drafting a redevelopment plan” for those two Areas in Need of Redevelopment. The slide went on to announce that the “Next Steps” were to “prepare a draft Redevelopment Plan”, presumably by Ms. Trajan’s firm, Phillips, Preiss.
Redevelopment law in NJ (NJSA 40A.12A ff.) requires that the governing body [Council] be the entity to authorize the preparation of such a redevelopment draft plan. Council did not do so. From all the information of which Voices is aware, it may be assumed that the Council’s Zoning Subcommittee has (improperly) been the authorizing entity. Council, by contrast, has promised no further AINR action until the new Master Plan is passed. Again, the public should be informed about a matter so clearly of public concern.
Where is the Audit of the State Monies Given to a Tri-partite Entity Known as the Garden of Human Understanding?
Over the last several years the NJ Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has granted $300,000 to $400,000 to the collective “Garden” composed of the Holocaust Memorial Committee, the Enslaved African Memorial Committee, and the Teaneck Library for two monuments to be built on the Memorial Green. Among other things, the grant specifies that no monies can be given to committee members employed by the committees and the few available accounts demonstrate that that stipulation has not been met.
Also, Council has authorized the members of the 3-part partnership to proceed individually, yet all have used thousands of dollars of monies granted to the full 3-part entity.
Since DCA grants comprise taxpayer (our) funds, it is imperative that Council authorize a professional audit of the funds granted to the Garden of Human Understanding.
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