Mayor Russ Pitman

North Arlington, New Jersey

russellpitman@hotmail.com

 

 

March 4, 2004

 

Dear fellow taxpayer:

 

North Arlington faces an out of control fiscal crisis and drastic steps must be taken.  If nothing is done, North Arlington's municipal tax rate will increase 20 percent this year, and that doesn't include school or county taxes! 

 

The situation is so bad that North Arlington had to borrow $3.6 Million just to pay the interest on millions of dollars in debt accumulated by the previous Mayor and approved by Councilmembers King, Herrmann and Whittles, among others.

 

Simply speaking, the prior administration's fiscal policies looted North Arlington on a scale comparable to Enron, leaving taxpayers holding the bag.  Acting without regard to homeowners, the former administration sold millions upon millions of dollars in bonds.

 

They squandered $45 Million in Host Community Fees and left us with $26 Million in debt.  The recently introduced budget is their budget and it is a taxpayer nightmare.

 

A 20 percent ' or $2,000,000 tax increase is unacceptable and neither the council majority nor I will support this kind of an increase.  Spending cuts must be made, the borough workforce must be reduced and the entire borough government needs to be restructured.  Otherwise, municipal taxes will double to average nearly $5,000 per home by 2008 -- AND THAT DOESN'T INCLUDE SCHOOL OR COUNTY TAXES.

 

Consider some of the items the former Mayor and Council left you and me as taxpayers:

 

·        A contractual $300,000 police salary increase in 2004, with even bigger police pay hikes in the next three years.

 

• Debt service up $300,000 in 2004, and again even more in future years.

 

• $280,000 in overexpenditures by the King/Herrmann controlled 2003 council.

 

• $250,000 in additional salary and benefit packages for borough employees.

 

• A $190,000 pension fund liability because the former Kaiser/King/Herrmann administration chose to pay this off in four years instead of fifteen.

 

• Virtually no reserve for uncollected taxes, with the money used instead for purchase of frivolous items like an $8,000 Spruce Tree.

 

• An inept Borough Hall professional staff led by a Chief Financial Officer so incompetent that he was removed by the State of New Jersey.

 

• Hundreds of thousands of dollars in school board expenditures being charged to the municipal government.

 

Many people ask me why so many stores are vacant on Ridge Road and a large part of the reason is the economic uncertainty brought about by higher and higher local taxes.  This uncertainty makes merchants wary about locating their businesses in our town.  This cycle will continue as long as the past administration's tax and spend policies continue.

 

As things stand, we are six months away from a state takeover of borough finances, occurring at a point where the borough is unable to pay its bills.  That would be the worst scenario, where the state forces a massive tax increase on homeowners, coupled with large-scale layoffs and service reductions.

 

Over the past months, I have sought out help from both Democrats and Republicans, people in and out of North Arlington, as well as borough employees.  Unfortunately, I have received little assistance from anyone in dealing with this crisis because almost no one has seen a situation as bad as ours before. 

 

One person who had was Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan.  His town was in a similar fiscal condition when he first took office.  A management specialist who buys failing businesses and nurses them back to health, he graciously offered me numerous suggestions of places to look to save money.  Because of our conversations, I asked Mayor Lonegan to join my administration with a short-term appointment as a municipal management consultant so he could implement this strategy firsthand. 

 

In this position, Mr. Lonegan will work with the municipal auditor, the CFO and other borough officials to create a short term and long-term strategy dealing with the tax and debt crisis created by the disgraced former Administration.  We appreciate his assistance.

 

Right now, we have a Police Department with no Table of Organization, a myriad of borough hall employees who until last month didn't even have job descriptions and today do not have a personnel manual.  And, our public employees have the most lavish salary and benefit packages anywhere in the state.  This simply cannot continue.

 

Steve Lonegan already has conducted a through review of every aspect of borough government, every job responsibility, purchasing procedures down to paper clips.  This is an essential task that incredibly was never done under the Kaiser/King/Herrmann administration but was completed in one week under Mr. Lonegan.

 

North Arlington taxes in 12 years have skyrocketed 310 percent, from 29 cents to $1.19 today and $1.44 in the introduced budget inherited from the defeated Kaiser/King/Herrmann Administration.  If nothing is done, we will see a $1.65 rate next year, $1.90 the year after, $2.14 in 2006 and by 2008 a rate as high as $3.  These tax increases would have a devastating effect, not just on senior citizens and others on fixed incomes, but every

homeowner's investment in our town, since property values would inevitably fall under this scenario.

 

For too long, the homeowner has been ignored as Borough Hall has become a hiring hall for the politically connected.  This is no longer going to be the case.  There will be layoffs.  There will be privatization.  And there will be a restructuring in virtually every single department.  Those employees remaining will have to work hard or find other means of employment.  The gravy train has come to a stop.

 

The recently introduced budget is just that, an introduction.  Over the next several weeks, I will be proposing detailed spending cuts to reduce the tax burden.  Some of the immediate first steps include:

 

• Combining the Zoning and Planning Boards, to eliminate duplicative personnel.

 

• Creating a state-of-the-art website that would streamline services, create a more user-friendly local government and enable taxpayers to go online and pay traffic tickets, license fees and even property taxes, using a credit or debit card.

 

• Switching phone services to a T-1 system, which will slice our annual phone bills in half, saving tens of thousands of dollars.

 

• Privatizing janitorial and accounting services, which will save well over $100,000 a year.

 

• A 15 percent across-the-board pay cut for the Mayor, Council, Borough Attorney, Auditor, Engineer and all other professionals and department heads.

 

Because state aid cannot be calculated in the introduction of our municipal budget, it is impossible to estimate how much we can cut your taxes from the introduced budget, which, as was said earlier, is based on spending levels inherited from the previous administration.

 

Last year, Senator Paul Sarlo delivered $500,000 in state aid to help our borough avoid an even bigger tax increase than was supported by the King/Herrmann/Whittles former council majority.  Whether he is able to secure again this special tax relief aid will determine just how big our tax bills will be this year.  I will aggressively be lobbying Senator Sarlo, as well as Assemblymen Scalera and DiGaetano for their help in helping North Arlington get out of this fiscal crisis.

 

I cannot change the damage done by those who held the reins of power in this town for twenty-two long years, but I will not stand by idly and watch North Arlington collapse from skyrocketing taxes, declining property values and destabilized neighborhoods, all of which will happen if nothing is done.

 

The unfortunate political reality is that there are many who really don't care about this crisis.  They are the ones who organized an angry mob outside of Borough Hall last month, keeping taxpayers from attending a council meeting when unruly individuals threatened to 'lynch' various borough officials, including myself.  They are determined to stop us at every turn.  They simply won't accept the financial condition their political allies created.

 

I will not give up.  I will not give in.  I simply will not let a vocal, unruly mob destroy my town, but I need your help.

 

First, please attend council meetings.  If only borough employees and campaign workers show up at council meetings, only one side is heard.  I need your support to succeed.  It is essential that we do not let those who shout the loudest and threaten the most stop us from protecting your rights as a taxpayer.  The next council meeting is on Thursday, March 11 at 7 pm and I hope you can attend.

 

Second, I urge you to write letters to the Observer, the Leader, the South-Bergenite and the Kearny Journal supporting my efforts to control spending and stabilize taxes.  This will put pressure on those who refuse to work with me in a bipartisan fashion.  We must have a bipartisan approach yet unfortunately, Borough Republicans continue to engage in partisan sniping and gridlock without any concern for the taxpayer.

 

Third, talk with your neighbors, I will be happy to come to your home, visit with your neighbors, and detail my recovery plan.  I

am willing to address any group that is willing to give me a forum to fix our fiscal condition.  The time for results is now.

 

Politics and posturing will not make this problem go away.  The massive weight of high taxes, debt and overexpenditures can no longer be tolerated.  Our fiscal house must be put in order.  Our priorities will be shaped around delivering essential services you expect and pay taxes to receive.  Essential services will always be delivered by this administration.

 

I am more determined than ever to do what is right.  Please contact me at russellpitman@hotmail.com and let me know what you think.  Thank you for taking the time to read this important budget message.

 

                               Sincerely,

 

 

 

                               Russell L. Pitman

                               Mayor, North Arlington

 

P.S.:  North Arlington's fiscal problems are the result of 22 years of mismanagement and overexpenditures caused by the squandering of $45 million in host fees and $26 million in debt.  They will not be solved overnight.  I appreciate your support and your prayers as I work to heal North Arlington's fiscal crisis.

 

P.P.S.: There will be a borough council meeting on Thursday, March 11 at 7 pm where we will discuss the first cost-cutting measures.  Your presence that night would be especially helpful to me as we begin putting North Arlington's fiscal house back in order.  Thank you for your support.