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DPW staffer terminated to save money
(by Maggie Fazeli Fard - May 20, 2008)
The Montvale Mayor and Council voted unanimously Tuesday to eliminate a position in the Department of Public Works (DPW), citing budgetary constraints as the reason behind the termination.
“This was a budgetary thing,” said Mayor Roger Fyfe at the May 13 meeting. “This has nothing to do with anybody’s personality or anybody’s work.”
Fyfe said that in trying to keep the tax increase reasonable, the borough had no choice but to make this cut. He added that this was the one line item where the entire governing body agreed to make a cut.
“There’s just not enough money to throw around,” he said. “This was not taken lightly.”
The 2008 municipal budget, which was introduced on April 18, projected a tax increase of 4.5 percent, including an appropriation of $604,260 for DPW salaries and wages.
According to Administrator Maureen Iarossi-Alwan, the termination will save the borough $44,886 in salary costs plus about $23,000 in benefits, not including vision. Iarossi-Alwan estimated that the total savings, with pension factored in, would amount to approximately $70,000.
The mayor and council will vote on the municipal budget with an amendment reflecting this change at the June 10 meeting. The termination will go into effect in two weeks.
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