Letters to the Editor

 

Perspective/County Budget

 

Atlantic County Dennis Levinson gave the following speech on the county budget on January 24, 2012.
It is my pleasure to come before you to present the 2012 Atlantic County Executive Budget. As you are well aware, the economic situation in both New Jersey and Atlantic County remains challenging. Our unemployment rate is above 12 percent. Over the past year there has been a sizable reduction in the number of jobs in our largest industry, casino gaming, and the jobs that remain are increasingly lower paying with fewer benefits. Many others who have been laid off have also had to accept less desirable and financially remunerative employment.
The nationwide free fall in real estate values continues, and many families now find they owe more than their home is worth. This trend has impacted many in Atlantic County and affected local property tax ratables and local government revenues. This is reflected in Atlantic County’s downward equalized value which fell by $2.1 billion in 2011. Since 2008, the county equalized value has decreased by $11 billion. The decrease from Atlantic City alone is $6 billion. Further decreases may be expected in the coming years.
The state of the local and national economy impacts our county budget in other ways. Atlantic County’s TANF enrollments are up by 17 percent, resulting in an additional $433,351 in our share of administrative costs. Our health benefit costs are up almost 5 percent, or $1 million. This cost should decrease over the next three years as employees assume a greater share of the cost of their premium as now required by state law. Workers’ compensation costs are up by $606,113. Expenses we are required to pay by state mandate have also increased. The cost to maintain county patients in state mental institutions is up $1,537,907. While expenses have gone up, revenues have gone down.
Overall, our revenues are down by $625,555. More specifically, revenues from our county clerk’s office, which are based on real estate transactions, are down 12.73 percent, or $546,700. Since 2007 the clerk’s revenues are down by $3.9 million as a result of the area’s struggling real estate market. County sheriff revenues are down 27.14 percent or $232,500. Most significantly, interest on investments is down 80.42 percent, more than $400,000. As you know, government is limited where and how it can invest. Currently we average about .1 percent interest on our investments. In previous years the rate averaged between three and four percent.
Although the state and local economic situations remains weak, I am pleased to say that the fiscal policies we implemented during my tenure as county executive have placed Atlantic County in good standing as we face the year ahead. Unlike some other jurisdictions, we do not face any major, fiscal challenges in the year ahead. We will not have furloughs or layoffs.
The 2012 County Budget that I present to you today is $194,091,546.75, an increase of only 1.76 percent from last year. The amount to be raised by taxation is $152,745,743.75, approximately $4 million less than allowed by the state budget cap. Based on the best information we currently have available, we conservatively predict the county equalized tax rate will remain fairly stable, and at .322 cents, it is still much lower than the .4362 cents rate when I assumed office in 2000. This increase from 2011 is .014 cents. However, at the present time the county tax administrator believes that when all towns have filed their assessments, the equalized tax rate will be lower, .315 cents, and will be an increase of only .007 cents.
Our 2012 budget is a responsible spending plan that meets the needs of our citizens efficiently and effectively. Total operational expenses are up only point thirteen of a percent. As has been our ongoing practice, we utilized 50 percent of our year-end surplus, $15,486,000, in the 2012 budget.
In all, we are in a good financial position to meet the challenges and opportunities that will present themselves in the year ahead. Our 12 perfect annual audits, strong bond ratings and low debt, attest to the soundness of our fiscal policies and the quality and experience of our financial staff. It also attests to the bipartisan cooperation we receive from this board of freeholders. All of you help to make Atlantic County a better place and have my gratitude and appreciation. Thank you.

Dennis Levinson
Atlantic County Executive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perspective/South Jersey

 

We continue to move backwards instead of forward with regard to becoming an energy independent nation. It is clear energy independence has never been a high priority for the Obama Administration despite a weak economy, heightened unemployment levels and rising energy costs. And, when given the opportunity, Americans have seen a lack of leadership by President Obama to make the responsible decisions to promote and protect America’s existing energy supplies. Thus it is no surprise that the country is veering down the road towards another energy crisis.
Failing to make definitive choices is nothing new for President Obama, with the latest example being his refusal to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline project. The proposed pipeline from Alberta, Canada to refineries 1,700 miles away in Texas would carry an estimated 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day. It would create thousands of new and needed jobs while reducing our dependence on oil from nations that are not America’s friends, particularly Venezuela and the Middle East.
With millions of Americans out of work and energy prices on the rise again, this is a win-win solution that President Obama continues to oppose. It has passed Congress with my vote and strong bipartisan backing. A majority of Americans support the job-creating pipeline, yet the president continues to be unconvinced. In fact, because of the president’s political calculation to delay any decision on Keystone until 2013, the Canadian prime minister has begun negotiations with China to build a pipeline completely within Canada’s borders, giving China access to this vital energy resource which strengthens their economic influence while hurting that of the United States.
Similarly, the Interior Department has continued to slow-walk permits for additional onshore and offshore drilling, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico and off of Alaska. Since April 2010, eleven deepwater drilling rigs have left the Gulf, taking with them an estimated $21.4 billion in investments and tens of thousands of jobs. Our domestic production capacity and the issuing of new permits has measurably decreased under the Obama Administration, thus dropping the U.S. projected share of worldwide oil and natural gas investment in 2011 by six percent. Furthermore, with existing wells limited, the need to further develop domestic sources is critical.
I have long advocated for a comprehensive national plan to achieve real energy independence. I’ve called for casting a wide and diverse net, including further developing alternative energy sources, encouraging smarter technologies and conservation efforts, and broadening domestic production of oil and natural gas reserves. Last year American consumers paid record-prices for gasoline, an average of $3.56 per gallon according to the Energy Information Administration. To compare, in 2010 the average cost was $2.90. Forecasts for 2012 predict another record-breaking year, in part because of rising tensions with Iran’s threats to block the Strait of Hormuz – a major shipping route. Those threats alone sent oil prices up by 2 percent in December.
Within a global economy, it is impossible to control all factors that dictate the prices of oil and gasoline on the energy markets. However, actions that can and should be taken to promote U.S. energy independence – approving the Keystone XL Pipeline and expanding domestic energy capacity – will have measureable impact in stabilizing energy prices for American consumers while strengthening our national security. It just takes a strong leader to make those decisions that are clearly in the best interests of the country.

Frank A. LoBiondo
Congressman, (R-2nd)
Washington, D.C.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perspective/Green Living

 

This new year of 2012 is the first year since forever that I have not made any specific resolutions. Sure, I am determined to exercise more, eat better, lose weight, get more done around the house, have a positive impact on my environment, and be nicer to everyone. But no specifics this year, no targets (OK, one target: one of my boys says I have to be able to jog for a mile and do 10 regular push-ups by December 31. I will be all about that this year, for sure.).
Instead, I am challenging myself with “projects”: get rid of junk in the “lost areas” of the house (garage, basement, attic, my sock drawer), maybe try to get a vegetable garden going this year (finally), plan a trip somewhere (so far, it’s between Ireland and Alaska, and my wife’s five votes put Alaska in the lead).
The Green Committee has a number of projects and challenges for this year, too. Chief among them, of course, is staging the fifth annual Green Day Festival on Sunday, September 16 (for once, not in serious conflict with that other great international holiday, Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19). We’ll be working again to make this year’s event larger and more diverse, more entertaining and more informative, than ever. And as always we could use the help of all members of the Greater Hammonton community; good things like Green Day only happen with the help of many, many people.
We’ll also be changing and upgrading our website and newsletter capabilities, which is a positive way to say “please bear with us as we reconstruct our electronic infrastructure” (things may look ugly for a while).
We’d also like to offer some challenges to all of you. This year, try out some or all of the following few things:
1. Use fewer plastic bags when shopping, and use more reusable bags. Plastic bags end up clogging our landfills and waterways, causing harm to our fellow creatures in the wild and to all of us in the pocketbook. Supermarkets include the cost of these flimsy bags when you shop, but you can get five cents off your tab (in Shop-Rite, at least) when you use your own bag; why pay more for what you don’t need? Bring your bags with you when you shop. I know: it’s hard to remember to bring them even when you want to use them. I’ve been there, believe me. It’s not that hard, though, to gradually train yourself (and your family members) to get more into the habit of it.
2. If you’re a business, recycle more. If you don’t currently recycle, please start. Besides being the law, it is, of course, not only the right thing to do, but it also helps us as a community to use our resources more intelligently, with less waste. Contact the ACUA for how to get going, or to do more. Waste is pollution, so let’s reduce waste; who wants to be a polluter?
3. Speaking of waste, let’s talk about water. Hammonton’s water usage rate in the summertime is among the highest in the entire state. Put another way, Hammontonians are among the biggest water wasters in the Garden State. I don’t like that moniker any more than you do, but there it is. We really need to use less water. Our water usage more than doubles in the summer. That’s just crazy. That kind of usage results directly in our drawing up the radium that has bedeviled us, so if you’re watering your lawn two and three or more times a week during the warmer seasons: you’re directly involved in bringing this problem to the fore.
Nobody wants to be responsible for polluting the town’s water supply, but that’s what we’re doing if we over-use the aquifer. Let’s try to lighten up on the water usage this year, and maybe give the state’s water waster award to another town. It’s really not that hard: if you have an irrigation system, install a rain sensor so you’re not watering during a storm. Try not watering so often: once a week for an inch’s worth is more than sufficient for grass. Try watering even less; grass is naturally a cool weather plant; it wants to go a little brown in the summer, so let it follow its nature (“Brown is the new green.”). Install rain barrels so you don’t need to pump water from the aquifer. Install a rain garden on your property to take advantage of natural flows and brighten up the property at the same time. Do your part: be water smart.
4. If you’re building anything, go green, as green as possible. I spent the last 20 years financing and managing construction around this state, and I know that with proper planning from the earliest stages of a project, building with the environment in mind is as cost-effective as conventional practices, if not more so. And in situations where extra upfront cost is unavoidable, the payback in energy and other savings makes the investment worth it. There are more and more design and building professionals who are familiar with tricks of the green trade, so be confident: you can do this. Check out www.greenbuilding.com for more ideas and inspiration.
5. Start a compost pile using kitchen vegetable scraps, grass, and leaves. The benefits to your garden are immeasurable, and we’ll be sending less waste (remember, that’s another word for pollution) to the landfill. Check out www.compostinstructions.com to get yourself started.
There, just five things to try to do more (or less) of. Be assured that I and the rest of the Green Committee will be walking this path with you this year, so if you’re interested in challenging yourself to be a better partner with the planet, contact us through our website at www.hammontongreen.com or call me at 516-5115.

Dan Bachalis
Hammonton Green Committee