VENTNOR BUDGET: News Items

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Forums will remain on a "vacation" for posts, but some brief items are being noted as they respect budgetary news about Ventnor.

Few towns opt to defer pension obligations
By DEREK HARPER Statehouse Bureau, 609-292-4935
Published: Thursday, March 19, 2009

TRENTON - Many municipalities, fearful of even heavier debts down the line, are passing on deferring half of this year's state pension obligations, a step that was approved in a bill passed this week with an eye to aiding struggling municipalities in tough budget years.

"We're not doing that in Ventnor. Definitely not," City Commissioner John Piatt said. "That's just kicking the can down the road ... so we're not considering it."

The city, which is seeing a decrease of $25,679 in state aid, could have deferred $947,802, the seventh-highest local amount. Gov. Jon S. Corzine initially proposed allowing local governments to defer some of their pension payments in October during a stop in Atlantic City. He pitched it as a way for municipalities to make ends meet without raising taxes in a difficult economy that has led to double-digit unemployment in some local areas.
But it also comes after repeated deferrals by earlier administrations between 1997 and 2003 to avoid fully funding pensions. State officials testified in December that because of that and declining investments, the state has about $60 billion worth of assets to cover about $120 billion in pension liabilities.

It also comes as the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services expects state pension obligations - even without a deferral - to more than double from $1.06 billion now to $2.18 billion in fiscal year 2014-15.

The bill would allow municipalities, counties and schools to avoid paying half their public employee pension debts this year, instead paying it back over the next 15 years on top of additional payments. The bill said these payments would not be subject to the 4 percent cap on spending growth.

Treasury spokesman Tom Vinz said because of the varying factors that would annually include a calculation of how much the state pension funds hold, how much they owe and what the annual rate of return has been, it was impossible to determine what a government would pay.

It would be "slightly up or down" from the deferred debt, he said, but declined to quantify that.

Overall, state figures show the state's 566 municipalities owe the state pension system a collective $1.3 billion for public employees this year.
Atlantic City owes $12.78 million, the largest local amount and the sixth-highest statewide. The 68 municipalities in The Press of Atlantic City's coverage area owe an average $817,672.

Egg Harbor City and Pleasantville were the only two municipalities reached for comment that definitely said they will use the program, while others said they are considering it.

Egg Harbor City, which will actually gain $36 more state aid this year, could defer $136,568. The city is in the final year of a five-year plan to stabilize the tax levy. Administrator Tom Henshaw said the city had to defer the payments in order to file for between $300,000 and $350,000 in extraordinary state aid needed to complete the plan.

Instead, in Cumberland County, Vineland, which could defer $2.2 million, and Shiloh Borough, which could save $554, joined Margate, Mullica Township, Linwood, Weymouth Township, Ocean City, Upper Township, Cape May and Stafford Township in rejecting the idea.

If Atlantic City elects to defer the $6.4 million, it would have to pay an additional $426,019, plus interest, on top of its growing pension debt, until 2024. That is about a half-cent of the tax rate.

That, said former city Revenue and Finance Director Jack Potts, makes deferral a bad idea.

"The municipality is going to get really creamed," said Potts, who retired in February after more than 20 years of city employment.

With a number of casino projects falling by the wayside, he questioned where the city would come up with additional revenue in future years, since the plan is only postponing the inevitable.

"It's a windfall in one year, but in future years you're going to get hammered," he said.

Last Friday, Mayor Lorenzo Langford's spokesman Kevin Hall said the administration is still weighing its deferral options.

Langford's staff has previously conveyed the mayor's support of the deferral, but Langford's high-ranking budget consultant, Arthur Bunting Jr., has expressed opposition to earlier proposals, saying it would only hamper the city's finances in the long run.

State Sen. Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, said this week that city unions lobbied him for the bill. Whelan, who served as the resort's mayor between 1990 and 2001 and discussed the issue with Langford in January, said they believed it could stave off layoffs and other cutbacks.

On Wednesday, neither Hall nor Langford returned repeated calls seeking comment. City Councilman Tim Mancuso, who chairs City Council's Revenue and Finance Committee, could not be reached despite repeated calls.
Bunting said he had not read the bill the Legislature approved Monday and declined comment because he had questions about exactly how much could be deferred and the repayment terms.

Staff writers Michael Clark, Martin DeAngelis, Trudi Gilfillian, Michelle Lee, Steven Lemongello, Lee Procida and Rob Spahr contributed to this report.

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Despite some personnel and program cuts at VECC, taxes paid by Ventnor property owners to support schools will rise as A.C.H.S. dramatically increases charges to sending districts.

Ventnor school cuts draw protest
By MARTIN DeANGELIS Staff Writer, 609-272-7237
Published: Wednesday, March 18, 2009

VENTNOR - The school board approved a budget for next year that cuts five full-time positions, including two bilingual teachers, over a parade of protests from parents, students and teachers.

The board voted 6-1 late Monday to pass the budget following almost three hours of public comments and questions on a spending plan that would also cut all but three sports programs from the Ventnor Educational Community Complex.

The planned budget also eliminates several other positions, including a guidance counselor, an art teacher and the district's curriculum director, moves the program for gifted and talented students into the regular classroom, and triggers other changes in staffing and programs. The total savings from staff cuts is more than $612,000, officials said.

But the plan also calls for raising the tax rate by about 4.1 cents per $100 of property value - or adding $82 to the tax bill of a home assessed at $200,000 - which would require the district to ask the state for a waiver of a rule against increasing school taxes by more than 4 percent.

Board members and officials blamed much of the district's problem on a 25 percent increase in the cost of sending the city's public-school students to Atlantic City High School. Ventnor expects its high-school tuition to go from $16,210 this year to $20,342 per student next school year - and with more than 300 Ventnor students at the high school, that translates into $1.2 million-plus in higher tuition to Atlantic City next school year.

Some of the speakers who stood in a long line to address the board talked about that, but changes to the bilingual and English as a second language programs were the biggest source of public complaints.

School officials called the changes a "restructuring" in a presentation, and said the change was to eliminate "self-contained bilingual classes." Superintendent Carmine Bonanni argued later that bilingual students would "get the same if not more servicing, in a different setting."

But parents and teachers - including Spanish-speaking parents who had bilingual teachers translate for them - said cutting two teachers meant the board was cutting a program that serves children well.

Sonya Bertini, a bilingual teacher for more than 20 years, drew a standing ovation in her own remarks urging that the program be kept in its current form, then she translated for the parent who followed her.

"She doesn't understand how (learning) is going to be possible with children who don't speak any English at all," Bertini said.

The teacher warned that for students who arrive at school with no English, "it's hard to carry on a normal school day ... when all they're are hearing around them is gibberish."

A sixth-grade student later gave a more dramatic demonstration of the same point.

Maria Hernandez took the microphone and started speaking to the board in fluent - and rapid - Spanish. Then she seemed to catch herself and switch to equally fluent English.

"Oh, I'm sorry - you don't speak Spanish," she said. "But I speak English thanks to my bilingual classes. Four years ago, when I arrived here, I couldn't speak any English at all."

But many of the other students who spoke to the board complained about planned cuts to the sports program. At the start of the board's meeting, the plan was to eliminate all sports but soccer, field hockey and golf - Bonanni says the sports to be cut would include baseball, softball, girls and boys track, basketball, volleyball and cheerleading.

School officials said Monday that part of their reasoning behind the sports they propose getting rid of is that local recreation programs offer many of the same sports. But, Bonanni said Tuesday, "The board will be discussing sports once again. ... Some may be reinstated based on what we save with transportation."

The school board is considering several options on the busing program that could save money, including holding off on the planned purchase of a new bus and expanding the "walk zone" - there are no buses for students who live inside that zone.

And echoing parent A.J. Russo's suggestion at the meeting, Bonanni said Tuesday that parents could also raise private money to keep some sports in the school.

The board's vote was 6-1 for the budget, with Nelson Morgan casting the lone vote against it. Bonanni said there could still be "adjustments" in the the budget, which now goes to the Atlantic County school superintendent for review.

The final vote on Ventnor's school budget is scheduled for April 1 at a City Hall meeting of the Board of School Estimate, which is made up of members of the City Commission and the school board. That meeting is at 6 p.m., and before the vote, there is another public hearing to allow comments on the budget proposal.

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City budget may acknowledge need for personnel reductions.


http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/1...ry/431878.html

Job cuts enter budget discussions in Ventnor
By MARTIN DeANGELIS Staff Writer, 609-272-7237
Published: Wednesday, March 18, 2009

VENTNOR - The budget news is no better at City Hall than it is at the school board.

City Commissioner John Piatt, who oversees revenue and finance for the city, warned Tuesday that the budget process would include "a serious look at staffing levels" in departments that "we know (are) overstaffed in some areas. ... I'm not sure how extensive they'll be, and I don't expect them to be massive, but I do think there will be some cuts."

In an interview, he was hesitant to give specifics, saying the commissioners are scheduled to meet on a budget today but probably will not submit a yearly spending plan Thursday, at their March voting meeting.

Piatt, who was elected on a slate with Mayor Theresa Kelly and Commissioner Stephen Weintrob last May, said he and his colleagues won on a promise to keep local taxes stable or cut them. He said an audit of city government suggests the city is overstaffed, and he expects the new administration to examine all departments when they do their budgets.

"I don't even think public safety is off the table," he said, in response to a question. "That being said, most of the public is more aware of the staffing levels in public works. That was apparent when we campaigned ... and it's most likely to have (overstaffing) ."

Piatt said he expects some informal public budget discussions at Thursday's meeting, but he suggests the City Commission could call a special meeting later this month to introduce a budget, or do it at the April 17 voting meeting.
He added that he sent out a public statement on the budget Tuesday partly because of expected tax increases from Atlantic County and Ventnor's school system - the school board approved a budget Monday that cuts several jobs and popular programs but still proposes a 4.1-cent increase in the tax rate.

Another reason for his warning about job cuts, Piatt said, is that "we haven't been talking this way, and we need to be. We need to be explaining that this may be a reality, there may be an issue about departments being overstaffed."

From the Reader Comments section linked above:

All comments starting from beginning:

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Just a suggestion, I by no means want to stir the hornet nest but why not reduce the size of the fire dept and utilize a 10 15% volunteer? require all Fire dept to reside in town, as well the volunteers. The maintaining of the recreation fields and beaches could be done with inmates "minimal" risk under supervision. The City and state are a point that these measures or other measure must be considered or simply continue the tax increases.

Posted by: W.D.H. on Wed Mar 18, 2009, 8:38 AM


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Another successful approach that works very well is using a Public Safety Officer (PSO) program. Rather than single focus such as Fire or Police, the PSO trains and employs individuals residing in the village as first responders to public safety emergencies such as search and rescue, fire protection, emergency medical assistance, crime prevention and basic law enforcement.
So rather than 40 policeman and 35 Fire personnel, Ventnor might have 20 Police, 20 Fire and 25 PSOs who apply their time to the department having the need at the time. So rather than 75 employees you end up with 65 or so.
Another MAJOR change that must happen if city's are to continue as employers is a change to a 401K Retirement program. The current approach is overly rich and taxpayers can not continue to fund Platinum Retirement programs while the Private sector does not.

Posted by: Tired of Paying on Wed Mar 18, 2009, 12:43 PM