Point Boro Budget Caught Between the State and the State

There are only two things delaying Point Borough from adopting its municipal budget: the state and the state.

That's only one thing? Not in this case.

There is one state agency, the Division of Local Government Services of the Department of Community Affairs, that wants Point Borough to send it paperwork showing that FEMA is pledging to give the town a $1.3 million grant so the Division can let the Borough adopt its budget.

But FEMA sent the paperwork to another state agency that, so far, won't shake it loose.

"I don't even know which state agency has the paperwork, but we've been calling, trying to deal with this," said Borough Business Administrator David Maffei after Tuesday night's council meeting.

FEMA will not forward the paperwork to the Borough, saying the state must do that.

So the Borough is caught between the two state agencies and, meanwhile, cannot adopt its budget.

Council had hoped to adopt the budget at the Tuesday night meeting, but could not because the state wants it to first pass two budget amendments: one is to accept the FEMA funding and another is to increase the pension allocation in the water and sewer budget by $30,000, Maffei said. Neither amendment will affect the tax rate, he added.

It's expected the tax rate will increase by 2 percent. (For story about the August budget introduction, click here.)

The FEMA grant of $1.3 million is to reimburse the Borough for 90 percent of what it spent on cleaning up public property and debris put curbside by residents in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, including road debris, labor costs, overtime, hiring temporary employees and a disposal company and paying tipping fees.

Maffei said he, Municipal Auditor Kevin Frenia, Municipal Engineer Ernie Peters and Congressman Chris Smith's office, which announced the grant last week, have all been calling the state to try to shake loose the elusive paperwork that is holding up the adoption of the budget.

"We've all been calling and the congressman's office told us if they don't hear back from them by the end of the day today, they would be all over them tomorrow morning," Maffei said after the meeting. "They've been very helpful."

Mayor William Schroeder was asked after the meeting if he had contacted the governor's office to see if an official there could shake loose the paperwork since a different state agency is calling for it. In June, Schroeder, a Democrat, endorsed Gov. Christie, a Republican, in his reelection bid. 

Schroeder said on Tuesday night, "I'll make a phone call tomorrow. But I really didn't expect the money yet."

Schroeder said he believes the real problem is that an investigation into the widespread use of Ash Britt to haul Sandy debris led to a delay in FEMA authorizing grants and reimbursements to many towns.

The investigation has been looking into whether Christie chose Ash Britt for a no-bid contract for Sandy debris removal for political reasons and whether there were any other improprieties, as outlined in a Sept. 11 nj.com article.

Point Borough was one of the few Sandy-impacted towns in the state that did not use the firm.

Schroeder said, "FEMA did release some funds to towns like Belmar and Point Pleasant Beach, but those are oceanfront towns. But towns like ours haven't gotten the money. The federal government has put so many road blocks in our way."

So far, Point Borough has received only $102,000 from FEMA, based on information from Borough officials at the end of August.

Schroeder said he has been in frequent contact with state and federal officials, including a FEMA official he spoke to last week who said he would try to speed up the process of getting the funds to the Borough.

Maffei said during the meeting that the Borough borrowed money at a very low interest rate to keep the cash flow going to fund municipal salaries and operations, while it waits to be able to adopt its budget.

"We certainly didn't expect to not have a budget by now, we didn't know how long the state would hold us up," he told the mayor and council.

Schroeder said the borrowing has kept the town running.

"So the municipality isn't hurting, but there are still a lot of people who were flooded, who are still not in their homes, who are hurting, and I would rather see the money go to them," Schroeder said after the meeting. 

The Borough is hoping to have the paperwork forwarded to the Division shortly and scheduled a special council meeting for 6:30 p.m. Monday to approve the two budget amendments. 

(This story was originally posted on Sept. 18, 2013)