November 12 Town Council meeting - Move municipal elections?

Council approved proposals to move municipal elections from May to November (on first reading), approve another $158,630 in tax appeal payouts, borrow $3.35 million to pay for the avalanche of successful tax appeals so far this year, and give 2% raises to senior managers at the November 12, 2013, meeting.

The meeting agendas and related materials are here. Video of the meeting, downloadable and indexed to easily find specific discussions, is here.

Council also approved on first reading a proposed ordinance amendment to loosen the rules governing the scheduling of council meetings.

The proposal to move council and mayoral elections from May to the November general election was approved 4-1, with me voting no. I said that such a proposal impacts every voter in town and represents a significant change, and it should be decided by referendum. All seven residents who spoke at Public Comment either opposed the move or requested a referendum. Mayor Robert Parisi, who joined the meeting late, said he was surprised at the opposition and defended his proposal as reducing costs, increasing school safety and improving turnout.

A 2010 state law allowed municipalities such as West Orange with charters that require separate, non-partisan local elections to change these dates to coincide with general elections. The law has prompted debate and some date switches among affected municipalities, including the West Orange Board of Education changing its elections last year from April to the November general election.

Approval of the ordinance would have the effect of extending the terms of the mayor and councilmembers by six months. Under the new schedule, elected officials would take office January 1 of the following year.

Council also approved another $158,630 in tax appeal payouts – bringing this year’s total, including a pending net $278,292 settlement of the long-running litigation over the city of Orange reservoir, to more than $3.5 million.

The majority of the appeal payouts are to Rock Spring Club, including $120,053 in the 2010 tax year and another $20,909 for 2012. The 2010 assessed value of the property was reduced 21 percent, along with another 4% decline last year to bring the assessed value to $13.09 million.

(Generally, successful tax appeals reduce the town’s cash to pay for refunds and also decrease future tax revenue because of lower assessed values. At the 2013 general tax rate of $3.648 per $100 of assessed value, a $1 million reduction in assessed value cuts tax revenue by $36,480, including $9,210 from the municipal budget. West Orange has lost approximately $1.4 billion, or 20%, of its tax base since 2008.)

In related matters, council approved a resolution authorizing the town to apply to the state Local Finance Board for authority to issue $3.35 million in debt to pay for pre-2013 tax appeals. (The amount of the borrowing was reduced from $3.5 million on the day of the council meeting to reflect a lower amount of qualifying refunds and expenses.) The LFB would also specify the term of the payback, between three and seven years. The chief financial officer said funding the refunds now would add $200 to the average municipal property tax bill, while low market interest rates would not add significant interest costs and spread the tax impact over multiple years.

In addition, an ordinance to authorize this borrowing was approved on first reading. If approved on second reading, the borrowing would raise the town’s outstanding debt to nearly $67.2 million.

The proposal to loosen the ordinance on scheduling council meetings followed debate at the October 29 council meeting. Council President Susan McCartney had recently cancelled the second meeting of the year without consulting councilmembers and also without authority in the ordinance to do so. To see the 25 minutes of the discussion at that meeting, please see the video excerpt here.  

The proposed modifications include:

-  Changing the cycle from the first and third Tuesdays of each month (except once a month in July and August) to any Tuesdays of the month separated by at least two weeks.

-  Changing the allowances for different scheduling from a legal or national holiday to “holidays, special events and anticipated vacation schedules.”

-  Now allowing cancellations by majority vote of the council and also authorizing the mayor, business administrator or council president to cancel a meeting “summarily,” in an emergency.

The proposed ordinance amendment passed 4-1. I voted against it because I believe that the executive branch of our government should not have any authority over the meetings of the legislative branch.

The council also discussed the 2014 council meeting schedule at the Conference Agenda, prior to the Public Meeting.

Council also approved 4-1 an ordinance on second and final reading to provide 2% raises to 14 senior managers. It was held over from the previous meeting because of an error in the public advertisement. I voted against this ordinance because I believe the town’s difficult financial situation outweighs this addition to the salaries of many of the town’s highest-compensated employees.

The other proposed ordinance, approved on first reading, would require non-resident property owners of one- and two-unit rentals to register contact information, holders of mortgages and the fuel-oil service on the property. The ordinance would comply with a state mandate.

Other approved resolutions of interest included:

-  A proposal to “re-retain” an expert to provide testimony in the litigation between the town and Link Communications over the alleged failure of technology in town police cars.

-  An executive session to consider the Link Communications proposal.

If you’d like to contact the council with your thoughts on any of these issues, please send an e-mail to council@westorange.org or call 973.325.4155 to leave a message.

I’m a West Orange Township councilman since 2010, reachable at jkrakoviak@westorange.org. I'm a business communications consultant in my spare time.