City Council

CITY OF HACKENSACK INTEROFFICE COMMl'Nll."A110N MAY ? 0 ' DATE: _... _M,...A"""Y.-1..8.., t h._. '---"1 9...,9._4..._ ........ .... _____ MEMOTO: DORIS L. DUKES. CITY CLERK FROM: R I CH AR D E. SALKIN. ESO .. CITY ATTORNEY II SUBJECT: SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MA Y 17th, 1994. The �ayor called the meeting to order at 7:31 P.M. f The �ity Attorney explained the absences of the City Clerk and the Depu�y City Clerk and called the Roll. Prese� t: All members of Council, City Manager Lacava, and City Attorney Salkin. The city Attorney: "In accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, Chapt � r 231, Laws of 1975, adaquate notice of this meeting was provided by publishing a notice of same in the May 14th, 1994 edition of The Record and by posting a copy of the notice on the bulletin board in City Hall." The City Attorney then explained the purpose of the meeting. The 1994- 1995 S chool Budget proposed by the Hackensack Board of Education was not ap proved by the voters at the April 19th, 1994 School Board Election. Pursuant to Law, the Budget was delivered to the Mayor and Council there­ after '.and, on May 5th, 1994, a special meeting of the City Council was held to consult with the Board of Education regarding the proposed Budget. The City Attorney then outlined the law pertaining to the establishment of th � Budget by the City Council. Mayor Zisa announced that, in line with past procedures, the meeting would �e opened for public comment, and that public speakers would be limited to four minutes in their initial comments. Mayor Zisa opened the meeting to the public for discussion of the 1994- 1995 S�hool Budget: i . Jack Donovan, Willow Avenue, stated that the taxpayers cannot afford [Superintendent of Schools, Anthony M.] "Marsaglias Tax". He said that School. Taxes have gone up thirty (30%) percent in five (5) years. He noted that there is a track coach who is paid $15,000.00 per year for his indoor and outdoor track seasons' services. He opined that the School Budget could be cut by four to five (4 to 5) million dollars and the education of the children would not be hurt. THERE'S NEVER A QUE8TION WHEN YOU PUT IT IN WRITING Special Council Meeting of May 17, 1994. Page 2 Richard Rankin, 430 Union Street, stated that during the past three to four (3 to 4) years, the children have come out last in that the children's programs have been cut. He said that "administrative programs" should be cut. Mayor Zisa asked Mr. Rankin what "Administrative Programs" he was referring to. Mr. Rankin said he meant to say "administrators". Mr. Rankin stated that the children should have "loads of programs". Councilman Mattei asked Mr. Rankin; "Are you saying that if we [the City Council] make cuts, they should only be cuts that do not effect the children? Mr. Rankin replied: "Yes." Rainer Oster, 144 Union Street, stated: " [He] agreed with Mr. Donovan." "Teachers are making too much money." "Teachers should be made to pay one-half (�) of their health and dental insurance." "All administrative positions which pay more than $80,000.00 should be eliminated." "There should be a substantial cut [in the School Budget]." The Mayor then asked if any other member of the public wished to speak. There was not. At this time a Motion was offered, seconded, and carried to close the public portion of the meeting. Approved 5 O. - Mayor Zisa then remarked that, as he had warned several years ago, the switch over to an elected School Board/Referendum School Budget system would decrease rather than increase public participatio in the process. This is exactly what has happened. The Mayor further noted that the biggest single increase in the School Budget was attributable to a nearly 50% increase in tuition charges for Hackensack students who attend the Bergen County School System. He inquired of the City Attorney whether unilateral action by the City in payment of the tuition bill, specifically prior year plus a capped increase was feasible. The City Attorney responded that the use of the County School System by Hackensack students was a contractual rela­ tionship and that if we did not pay the full tuition set by the County, he would assume that they would "bar the doors" to our students. The Mayor noted, in response to some of the comments from the public, that as is well known, the governing body of a Municipality faced with the responsibility of setting a School Budget after same has been de­ feated by Referendum, is not permitted by law to do a "flat cut across the Board". Special Council Meeting of May 17, 1994 Page 3 The Mayor stated that those who suggest that several million dollars could be cut fromm the School Budget were talking about "pie in the sky". The Mayor said that he agreed with Mr. Rankin that the Council should not cut the programs for our students. The Mayor then asked the other members of Council if they had any com­ ments or suggestions regarding the School Budget. Councilman Mattei said tht he agreed with the Mayor and Mr. Rankin's comment that the Council should not consider any cut in the School Bud­ get that would hurt our children. Mr. Mattei noted that the School Budget contained a total of $ 284,000.00 allocated for substitute teachers' salaries. He indicated that he had reviewed the expenditures in this category going back through the 89- 90 School Budget. While this category can fluctuate, it appears to be consistently over-budgeted. The most spent was $ 2 58,000.00 in 90- 91; the least was $ 2 03,000.00 in 89-90. He suggested that this category could be reduced by $ 2 5,000.00. Mayor Zisa then stated that it should be noted that prior to submitting the Budget to the April 19th Referendum, the Board of Education had made its own cuts including: elimination of an administrative post: elimination of a number of part-time teacher positions: reduction in the amount of material to be purchased; reducing secretarial staff; cuts in athletic programs: cuts in custodial staff; a $ 2 75,000.00 cut in equipment purchases: cuts in maintenance. He noted that the Board of Education had presented the City Council with a list of potential areas of additional cuts which included $150,000.00 for the elimination of the [non-academic] Adult Education Program. Noting that such a cut, while regrettable, would at least not have a negative impact on the children of the system. The Mayor proposed that the budget be cut in the amount of $150,000.00 in the Adult Education category. Deputy Mayor Trammell said that she too thought it important to avoid any budget cuts which would potentially hurt the children. She said that she noted that the "lateral and contingency fund" in the proposed budget was $350,000.00. The most that was ever spent out of this account was budget year 1992 -1993, when $ 288,000.00 was spent. She noted that normally substantially less was spent out of this fund. The Deputy Mayor suggested that the Council could consider a cut of $50,000.00 in the category. Special Council Meeting of May 17, 1994 Page 4 Councilman Galvis noted that the City's Administrative staff had also reviewed the School Budget. They reported that the 3.5 million dollars budgeted for health and dental benefits did not fully reflect a five (5%) percent reduction in the cost of premiums which will go into effect on July 1st, 1994. While a straight mathematical calculation could justify a slightly larger cut, taking a conservative approach on the basis of the costs of the reduced premiums and the projected size of next year's staff, a cut of $100,000.00 was reasonable and would have no negative impact on the quality of the educational system in Hackensack. Councilman Stein, reiterated the sentiments of the other members of Council. We should not consider any cuts which have the real potential of damaging our School System. Providing a quality education to our children must have our highest priority. He said that he had examined the category of legal expenses. The proposed Budget allocated $60,000.00. While $60,000.00 is not unreasonable, his review of the recent prior expenditures in this category lead him to conclude that the School Ad­ ministration is not spending that much on legal services. For example, in 90-91 they spent $44,000.00, and in 9 2 -93 they spent $34,000.00. He felt that the category could be cut in the amount of $10,000.00. Mayor Zisa asked the other members of Council if there were any addition­ al areas of potential budget cuts they wished to recommend or discuss. There were none. The Mayor stated that it was clear that the cuts in State aid and the increases in tuition costs, account for nearly 2� million dollars of the School Budget increase. He noted that there was a clear consensus on the Council that there should be no cuts in programs affecting the education of our children. The Mayor then asked the City Attorney to poll the Council on each of the five (5) cuts proposed: Ayes Nays 1. (Mattei) $ 25,000.00 Substitute Teachers Salaries 5 0 2. ( Zisa) 150,000.00 Adult Education 5 0 3. (Trammell) 50,000.00 Lateral/Contingency 5 0 4. (Galvis) 100,000.00 Health/Dental Benefits 5 0 5. { Stein) 10,000.00 Legal Services 5 0 Whereupon at 8:40 P.M. the Mayor declared a recess to permit the City Attorney and Deputy City Clerk to prepare a Resolution. At 9:05 P.M. the Mayor reconvened the meeting. • Special Council Meeting of May 17, 1994 Page 5 RESOLUTION #171 Offered By: MATTEI Seconded By: STEIN was approved, reducing the proposed School Budget for 1994 - 1995 of $33,724,320.00 by the sum of $335,000.00 and certifying a budget for the year 1994 - 1995 in the amount of $33,389,320.00. Approved 5 - 0 At 9: 20 P.M. a Motion to adjourn was offered, seconded, and carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, CITY ATTORNEY