Every week, The Sun will ask candidates in the Nov. 4 election for council seats to respond to questions pertinent to local issues. This week’s questions:
1.) What is your plan to keep taxes at an affordable rate for residents?
2.) How do you rate the township’s current online and social media presence? How do you think it could be improved?
Rich Van Noord
1. What is your plan to keep taxes at an affordable rate for residents?
Families and seniors across Mt. Laurel plan their finances for the future. Whether it’s having a plan to pay for your children’s college or have a happy and healthy retirement, our residents understand the importance of investing in their family’s future. As a former small business owner, and a father of two daughters, I understand the importance of making tough decisions to balance a budget and setting financial goals.
This is a basic concept lost by many politicians in Washington, D.C., and Trenton. Dennis and I will ensure we provide property tax relief and enhance opportunities for our residents by planning a 10-year financial roadmap. This will enable us to set long-term financial goals, employ shared services to provide more for our residents for fewer tax dollars and bring residents to the table to have more say over Mt. Laurel’s future.
As part of Mt. Laurel’s long-range plan, we will work with community stakeholders to attract diverse businesses to our community to provide a wider selection of products and services to our residents and fill vacant commercial properties in our town. Every business that opens its doors in Mt. Laurel lightens the burden of residential property taxpayers and provides more opportunities for our residents to eat, shop and relax here at home.
We can explore more opportunities to collaborate with our school district to save taxpayers money through shared services and exploring grant opportunities to provide more to our community. The greater the partnership between the township council and our schools, the more opportunities we will have to promote efficiency in local government and provide property tax relief.
2. How do you rate the township’s current online and social media presence? How do you think it can be improved?
As a former reporter who spent many a long day in front of a fax machine waiting for press releases and research documents, the leaps and bounds we see on almost a daily basis relative to social media are exciting and boundless. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are helping people connect to government resources and elected officials in ways that were unimaginable just a few short years ago.
It’s important that local government in particular maximizes its connectivity to residents online. Dennis and I have proposed starting a Mt. Laurel Twitter account to complement the existing police department Twitter. We will also continue to make upgrades to our website that promote transparency and ensure that residents are able to get their questions, concerns and suggestions to the right person.
We will detail how every tax dollar is spent on the web and provide a one-stop shop for resident concerns through our “Speak Out” page, where any resident can ask questions and receive a response in short order from a township employee who can best help them. We will utilize our website to keep residents informed and engaged as we develop our long-range plan. We will regularly provide polls and questions to residents to encourage them to provide their input on what is best for Mt. Laurel’s future.
Dan Rosenberg
1. What is your plan to keep taxes at an affordable rate for residents?
The fiscal approach in Mount Laurel Township must reverse course to prevent massive tax hikes. The council spent $15 million of our budget surplus for general spending in the past three years instead of seeking cost-saving alternatives that could have lowered taxes.
Without real reform, the surplus will run out and taxes will rise, making Mount Laurel unaffordable. My running mate, Carol Murphy, and I have proposed a plan to increase transparency to open the financial books for public scrutiny, called for independent audits, and zero-based budgeting techniques that would force every department to justify government spending. These reforms create a level of accountability and disclosure necessary to save taxpayer dollars.
Our plan would require council and planning board meetings to be recorded and made available to the public online. This would provide the public with access to the financial discussions that directly impact their tax bill. Further, we have proposed greater township financial disclosure that would open public review of records that include budgets, audits, check registers, contracts, surplus fund status and outstanding debt. Additionally, by ending the internal audit process and replacing it with a truly independent audit of township finances, we will take the steps necessary to slash waste and inefficiency.
The improved financial scrutiny must also have innovative approaches to protect our tax dollars. We are calling for a process known as zero-based budgeting, where each and every department in township government would have to justify any dollar they intend to spend. By taking a new approach to township budgeting, our ability to find real cost savings will provide direct benefits to local residents. Lastly, we will fight for smart shared service agreements that save taxpayer money without reducing vital services.
2. How do you rate the township’s current online and social media presence? How do you think it can be improved?
The online and social media presence in Mount Laurel Township fails to serve residents. The website is outdated, hard to navigate and no social media presence exists. The Mount Laurel Township social media presence is nothing short of false advertising. The website offers a link to connect via Facebook to a page that is not even run by the township. My running mate, Carol Murphy, and I have proposed a plan to establish an online presence to serve taxpayers.
The online and social media presence can be improved without increasing costs to taxpayers by maximizing existing resources. We propose creating Facebook and Twitter profiles that would enable residents to access real-time information. This would include road closures, school closings, major storm warnings, local events, upcoming council agendas, summary of council actions and virtually anything to better connect government with the community.
To improve the website, our efforts will focus on modernizing and simplifying access to public information. This can be accomplished by requiring that all records maintained on the website can be found in three clicks or less. This reform is modeled after studies to improve government transparency, which strives for simplicity without increased costs to taxpayers.
Additionally, I would look for technological partners to help create a snow plowing timeline and route map that would provide residents with real-time updates during a storm, similar to a PSE&G outage map. This new function would help get residents information quickly regarding snow removal, which impacts their ability to get to work, and plan during a storm by having access to critically needed information.
Improving the township online and social media presence requires fresh approaches. Together, Carol and I intend on bringing forward ideas that put residents’ need for improved service first, and get the most from local government through improved efficiency.
Dennis Riley
1. What is your plan to keep taxes at an affordable rate for residents?
With 30 years of experience in financing, I know how to balance a budget and create a financially responsible forecast for the future. There are some common sense steps that we can take to make our town more affordable. Rich Van Noord and I will build on the successful track record of our leaders on the township council and explore additional shared service opportunities with neighboring towns, Burlington County and our school districts to continue to provide quality services our residents rely on at a lower cost.
Our mayor and council have made it their mission to obtain grants and promote a dedicated fund to preserve open space. As planning board members, Rich and I have fought against overdevelopment that would put a strain on our infrastructure and would require a greater investment from taxpayers. We will vigorously fight to protect open space because it helps provide relief to local taxpayers.
A good way to offset residential property taxes is by attracting and keeping small businesses in our commercial zoned areas, which fill vacant storefronts and office space and provide good jobs to our community. As part of our long-range plan, we will work to recruit innovative businesses that provide quality products and services to our residents. Getting high-quality businesses to call our community home in areas already designated and developed as commercial properties will lower the burden of property taxes on our residents.
We will also work to give residents a voice in crafting a 10-year financial plan for Mt. Laurel that provides a brighter future for our community with a focus on debt-free improvements and property tax relief. Working with community stakeholders and local leaders, we can provide a fiscally responsible roadmap to achieve our priorities while making our town more affordable.
2. How do you rate the township’s current online and social media presence? How do you think it can be improved?
Our mayor and council have worked hard to provide more resources to our residents online. The website has been redesigned and includes all meeting minutes and provides access to the full Mt. Laurel Township code. There is now a Mt. Laurel Facebook page. Also, the township set up the Nixle alert system, which allows Mt. Laurel to send messages to local residents via phone, email and web instantly. With technology and interconnectivity always evolving, it’s important that our residents have access to important updates and information about Mt. Laurel at the touch of a button.
Rich and I will ensure that Mt. Laurel has an even greater presence on Facebook and make sure we have cross-platform functionality to send out regular updates to residents via the most effective platforms. Rich and I will spearhead a monthly e-newsletter updating residents on local events, new businesses and action the township council takes to make our community a better place. The e-newsletter will be linked to our website, Facebook and other platforms and encourage resident input.
Transparency is key, and Rich and I will build on the successful strides taken by our current leaders by listing how every tax dollar is spent by our township government on our website. We understand that many residents are extremely busy with work and family commitments and aren’t always available to share their feedback at council meetings. That’s why we will create a “Speak Out” page on our website to allow residents to leave their input, suggestions and concerns. We will streamline a response by the appropriate township employee to get back to our residents as quickly as possible with the information they need.
Carol Murphy
1. What is your plan to keep taxes at an affordable rate for residents?
Serious changes are necessary to prevent Mount Laurel taxpayers from facing skyrocketing tax increases. In the past three years, the council has spent more than $15 million from our surplus to fund regular operating expenses. The failure to seek cost-saving alternatives has me greatly concerned because these one-shot gimmicks will result in massive tax hikes once the surplus runs out.
To prevent future tax hikes, immediate changes are necessary. My running mate, Dan Rosenberg, and I have proposed a plan to increase transparency to open the financial books for public scrutiny, called for independent audits and zero-based budgeting techniques that would force every department to justify government spending. Additionally, simple reforms can save taxpayer dollars. For example, third-party purchasing and shared service agreements will provide savings without cutting essential township services.
Our plan would require council and planning board meetings to be recorded and publicly available online. This would shine the light on financial discussions that directly impact taxpayers. We further have called for financial records being available online to provide greater public disclosure. The records would include budgets, audits, check registers, contracts, surplus fund reports and outstanding debt. This disclosure, combined with independent audits of township finances, will enable residents to have the information necessary to hold politicians accountable.
Further, putting financial records under public scrutiny is the first step, but more must be done. By implementing a process known as zero-based budgeting, every township department would have to justify any dollars it intends to spend. It incorporates the same discipline we have in our own lives, and forces bureaucrats to justify spending. This will enable us to root out waste, inefficiency and identify real cost savings. Additionally, we will fight for smart shared service agreements that save taxpayer money without reducing vital services.
2. How do you rate the township’s current online and social media presence? How do you think it can be improved?
Mount Laurel Township’s online and social media presence would get a failing grade. The website is outdated, hard to navigate and no social media presence exists. In fact, Mount Laurel Township even has a link on its website to connect via Facebook to a page that is not even run by the township. This is an area where our local government staggeringly is behind townships across New Jersey by only doing the bare minimum. My running mate, Dan Rosenberg, and I have proposed several reforms to establish an actual online presence to serve taxpayers.
It is important to consider that upgrading the online and social media presence of the township does not have to come at new costs to taxpayers. It is a question of getting township employees to work smarter with a forward-looking directive. Our plan provides for the establishment of Facebook and Twitter profiles for township government and would enable residents to get real-time information that is important in their daily lives. This would provide residents with information including road closures, school closings, major storm warnings, local events, upcoming council media agendas, summary of council actions and virtually anything to better connect government with the community.
The township website is outdated and not user friendly, which makes it difficult for the public to access information. A full modernization of the website to increase transparency is necessary, but to make it user friendly, all information must be available in three clicks or fewer. Information buried several pages deep is too hard to navigate and undermines an open and transparent government.
Overhauling the online and social media presence in Mount Laurel Township is critically needed, certainly achievable and will provide residents with the improved service they deserve from their local government without new costs to taxpayers.
