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Cuts to regional budget made
(by Karen F. Mrnarevic - May 07, 2008)
The
Woodcliff
Lake council passed a motion at its May 5 meeting supporting suggestions put forth by the Pascack Valley Regional Board of Education for cuts to be made to the defeated school budget.
The governing bodies of all four sending towns in the district deliberated at a meeting on April 23, and came to the agreement that a cut of one percent of the net budget was acceptable. Two members of the board representing
Woodcliff
Lake , Bertram Siegel and James Hall, were present at the May 5 meeting to make a presentation of the proposed areas of expenditure to be cut. The council voted to approve the board’s recommendations.
The council passed a motion to “recommend a one percent reduction of the Pascack Valley Regional 2008 school budget, totaling $368,105.” The cuts are to consist of a “$150,000 reduction from window replacement at
Pascack
Valley high School, $60,000 reduction from locker replacements at
Pascack
Valley and Pascack Hills, and a $138,000 reduction from anticipated savings from the state health benefits plan, and any other reductions deemed necessary to total $368,105.”
The motion passed by a vote of five to one, with Councilman Bob Rosenblatt opposed. “I don’t support any cuts to the budget,” he asserted, making reference to the fact that
Woodcliff
Lake voters approved the regional school budget by a small margin.
“I can understand that
Woodcliff
Lake might feel slighted, because they passed the budget and now they are being punished,” said Pascack Valley Regional’s Business Administrator, Vincent Occhino.
Occhino said he also regrets an error he made in reporting to the governing bodies after they requested a list of capital projects that could be considered for elimination. Pascack Valley Regional told the governing bodies that the budget included a $400,000 project to install air conditioning in the Pascack Hills auditorium. Although the air conditioning project was included in the first draft of the budget that was submitted to the county, the board subsequently decided that since an approximately $1.5 million turf field was recently installed at Hills, “we could defer the air conditioning for a year,” said Occhino. So that project was replaced with other capital projects.
Mayor Joe LaPaglia attributes the error to a board that “works in mysterious ways… They are so accustomed to doing whatever they want to do without accountability,” said LaPaglia. “That’s why I think they are somewhat careless and indifferent that their budget got defeated.”
LaPaglia calls the one percent cut a “modest cut,” considering that the entire budget totals $42 million and includes capital projects. However, the general opinion of the borough leadership, according to LaPaglia, was that “it’s about the best we’re going to get without a major fight.”
The governing bodies of remaining three towns in the district, Montvale, Hillsdale, and River Vale are expected to vote on similar motions in upcoming weeks. If the governing bodies of all four sending towns do not approve the cuts, the budget will be referred to the county’s superintendent for review.
Karen F. Mrnarevic's e-mail address is Mrnarevic@northjersey.com.
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