By AUBRIE GEORGE
Moorestown will likely face the same economic and financial struggles in 2011 that it has been facing over the past few years. Deputy Mayor John Button said communication is going to be key in making sure everyone is on the same page when resolving issues.
One of the issues facing the township in 2011 will be balancing the budget at hand, as well as continuing to build a sustainable foundation for future budgets in Moorestown, Button said.
“We inherited a big budget problem. In ’09 and we went to work on fixing that, but more important was getting underneath the budget and understanding the root causes of the issues we were facing and figuring out how to create a sustainable foundation whereby we had better control of the taxes on a year-to-year basis,” Button said. “That job is hardly finished.”
While the township was able to hold the line on taxes in 2010, Button said officials are already looking at an approximate $500,000 budget gap as a result of pension and benefits costs.
“We know going in to the year, that’s a significant issue facing us right off the bat,” Button said.
Button said the township has done a lot to address the expense side of the budget through analyzing services that are “nice to have” as opposed to “must have.” He said those efforts will continue in 2011 in terms of looking at the township’s resources and figuring out how to do things differently in an effort to trim costs.
In addition, he said attention must be paid to the revenue side of the budget, including figuring out ways to attract new tax ratable properties to the township.
“We’ve got to look at all of our commercial zones and say ‘what is it we can do to make this environment more business friendly?’” Button said. “How can we grow the ratables in this town?”
Button said the township is working vigorously toward settling the outstanding issue of Town Hall and expects a new project will go out to bid early in the year. The township has been working with Ragan Design Group to put a plan together after bids for the original project came back several million dollars over budget.
“We are really focusing very strongly on getting that project resolved and getting a decision made so that we can go out to bid, hopefully, in January but at the very latest in February,” Button said.
Button said that issue would carry a “heavy weight” with township officials until it’s resolved.
In addition, Button said officials would keep an eye on ongoing issues in 2011, including new COAH rulings and the ways they will affect the township.
Button said the township would aim to further the KIDS initiative that was presented to Council by the Recreation Advisory Committee this summer. The program, which stands for Keep Investing and Developing Sports/Recreation, is a multi-year plan to update, maintain and enlarge Moorestown’s recreational facilities with funding from private-public partnership in which sports clubs would contribute based on facility use and access.
Button said it’s going to be important for officials and residents to communicate as the community addresses the issues of the coming year while making sure to focus on facts.
“We’re going to keep trying to put the facts on the table so that residents can understand where we are at any point with any one of these key issues,” Button said. “Facts are so often different than perceptions.”
He said there will be the usual budget workshops this year in addition to plenty of regular and special public meetings as a place where discussion of the facts surrounding key issues can take place.
“We’re going to keep the public well-informed of what we’re doing in an effort to make sure we’re getting input from residents and that they understand what we’re trying to do at any point and time,” he said.
