[Music] good good evening and welcome to the January 30th 2024 public budget hearing can I have roll call please councilman maseri absent councilwoman migga absent councilman zazali here Deputy Mayor scavage here mayor Peterson here adequate notice of this meeting was duly provided to the Verona City Grove times and the Star Ledger by email and published in an annual schedule SCH of meetings on December 14th 2023 filed with the Township Clerk and posted on the public bulon board in the municipal building Lobby in accordance with the open public meetings act um does anyone from the public wish to be heard on anything honor off this agenda seeing none we will start with item number three and move on to the budget hearing and uh Mr zelli do you want to start with Rec re yes good evening mayor before before we start I I will run through the list of uh who will be here tonight Recreation which is celebration of public events in the pool utility then we'll go to the library at 5:30 we'll begin with engineering shade trees streets and Roads equipment repair and maintenance snow removal parks and playgrounds and then I will go into the municipal Insurance lighting account and statutory expenses 5:45 we will do our water and sore utility at 6:00 we'll have the public utilities vehicle maintenance lowp uh unemployment insurance fire department and OEM and at 6:15 we will end with the police department and capital improvements um we will begin with Recreation Marica if you want to join us up hereo good evening everyone knows Marissa course um we're going to start with the celebration of a public events um it's the 290 account uh beginning with fireworks every year as it's been said many many many times we do add $1,000 to make it a little bit bigger and better uh last year we paid for this amount in full um which we think contributed to a little bit better show right they throwing more shells if you pay advance pay so we are going to do that again uh brought that up from 15,000 in 2023 to 16,000 in 2024 the state permit of $427 stayed the same the 299 account here went from 15427 in 2023 to 16427 in 2024 380 account holiday tree lighting um there's a few different accounts throughout the budget for this you see $3,000 line item here that stayed the same as it was last year but there are other items in different departments uh that contribute different elements to the tree lighting that stayed the same from last year um the 2997 4 account this is for um the Memorial Day uh event this year uh I was speaking with mace and uh what we would like to do this year is in Li of a parade have a uh some type of ceremonial event SL barbecue at um the community park for the veterans where they actually get honored and recognized barbecue for uh the town that will be catered um and this just kind of concentrates on the true meaning of the holiday and you know allows us to try something different also it's the opening of the Town pool that weekend so it's nice to kind of tie it all into community park there so you'll see here that's a $3,000 line that will go towards the Memorial Day celebration breast cancer awareness walk that's our 10th year coming up right we're doing that this our 10 year anniversary here um you'll see that there's a $3,000 line that stayed the same you'll see a reduction uh in the princess party um if this goes on this year it will be a accounts receivable which means there will be a fee associated with it um and it will not be coming out of the operating budget of recreation which is why you'll see an $88,000 decrease in the 29928 account overall that account went from 11,000 in 2023 to 3,000 in 2024 any questions on our celebration of public events no okay we're going to move on to our Recreation budget now uh at things in the past were classified as salaries and wages and they should have been classified as other expenses um we're starting to see this now um with Rebecca downstairs U and HFA looking through the the budget as well as our auditor um so just because you see a zero here doesn't mean it's eliminated it means it's probably been repurposed and classified elsewhere um the 1015 accounts uh playground summer help supervisors leers and AIDS that went from $44,500 in 2023 to $47,000 in 2024 there's a minimum wage increase um that of a dollar it's a dollar increase per hour per uh staffer so that's a cost that's passed on to us uh no different than any other business in the state that's why you see an increase here um you have a question may I I do how did you um does that mean that we we'll increase the fees then for summer playground to to up for yeah likely you're going to see that with the the pools a lot of things yeah that's what I was thinking so yeah and and again that's just a cost that we have to pay um you'll see in the 1016 basketball account um last year that was $15,200 and this year it reflects as zero not because we eliminated but this was previously classified as uh employees of the township when it really uh is another expense so that I'll point that out when we get down to that line that that move moved same with the 1017 for field supervisors Suburban girls League volleyball ice skating um bot that all got moved to other expenses so that's why in salaries you're going to see a decrease from 14958 last year to 141 538 this year and now we'll get into the other expenses um 220 account travel costs stay the same at $100 conference and dues stay the same at $650 maintenance of other equipment 261 account $4,200 that state the same um maintenance of buildings and improvements 16,750 that um got cut to 6,342 uh different contracts were in place and we found some cost savings there in this uh 299 otherwise not classified this is where you'll see those costs that I said were uh formerly moved um which is why you're going to see a a increase here um taking that from the top the Halloween parties in there I think right some of them here and some of them are in 380 some are in 382 okay so Halloween party 650 that got cut to 600 uh Suburban girls basketball 3,000 boys basketball 3,000 those were two items that were previously in salaries that we've now moved to other expenses um miscellaneous tournaments that uh $1,000 that stayed the same West essic soccer league there's a $100 increase there Suburban wrestling $1,200 that stayed the same by and large a lot of these accounts stayed the same here here's another line for the holiday tree lighting 3500 so part of that's in celebration of public events part of that's in the recreation budget I think Jerry has some of that in his budget too so that's where we kind of divide the uh the holiday lighting uh overall the 299 account for $45,900 in 2023 $45,100 in 2024 there's a slight decrease there clothing account um that dropped from $590 to $460 there's a little little cost savings there office equipment $1,000 that stayed the same in the 380 account um this is where you see that big increase that I was discussing before the last two line items here hardcore Hoops uh supervisors and miscellaneous supervisors that's a nearly $20,000 increase because this was previously in salaries that we've now moved to um the other accounts and this line went from $23,200 in 2023 to $43,000 in 202 before again that seems like it's a big increase but we save the cost from the salaries um Community Park Turf maintenance 2000 um Mara found a a new contract that's a little bit cheaper which is why you see a $1,700 cost savings there I didn't say it before but I will repeat what I said yesterday A lot of these numbers are cap buffers for me which would allow us if we come close to a cap calculation problem I can go back and dial some of it back and trim it a little bit um so none of these are are permanently set in stone 450 account copy machine maintenance $1,000 that stay the same 480 um different supplies tennis courts Community pass which is what we use to uh reg for registration everything right um that there's an increase in that from 3,800 to 4200 um supplies stayed the same at 3200 and our Optimum Bill uh there's a slight decrease there overall for recreation um you're can see in 2023 we spent $254,700 and in 2024 that number goes to 26590 so there's a very slight increase here but again a lot of that is due to expenses that we don't have in our control and um just different types of contracts going up you any questions on the wreck budget no okay we're going to do a little jumping here see if I can do it we're going to jump to the pool utility okay okay so you here you see um the pool Administration side the big thing here aside from the salaries is our audit um which had a increase from $3,340 23 to $4,200 24 bringing the gram total of the pool Administration side um for salaries and wages to 127 , 66223 to $132,800 to 9,000 um we're currently still looking for a pool manager I believe it's still posted on the league website assistant pool manager there's two of them that went from 11,000 to 11,500 um um swim team coach 2000 stayed the same uh pool staff $177,100 $120,000 in 2024 um and overtime went from 16,000 to a slight decrease there to um 12,000 back to okay in the 220 account which is um travel swim team buses 30 300 that stayed the same Wi-Fi connection cable vision 1250 that stayed the same Gas and Electric 12,000 stayed the same water purchase um there's an increase here and as I'll explain when Mike does his budget there's a 6% increase in the cost of water from Pake Valley Water Commission as well as North Jersey district water supply um which is why you see a $500 increase here membership badges went up $100 from 2400 2023 to 2500 2024 262 account uh 3,000 that stayed the same 290 account um stayed the same 4,400 that's for testing the water and uh starting up in the summer and winterising in the winter otherwise not classified 3,000 that stayed the same as well chemicals for pool this is where we're seeing very large increases in the town not just for the pool but for some of Mike's treatment as well 33,000 23 to 35,000 24 but I think we just found them on a co-op right yes on Marsh County Co-op right M 20 000 for lifeguards um suits and jackets $ 350 count $100 that stayed the same um painting the the pool Bath House 4,000 that stayed the same um 380 account $300 that got cut to$ 250 382 safety material um this uh lifeguard training 1,700 that stay the same fire extinguisher service uh that got cuted because that's covered by our other contract which is the same and safety material 200 you'll see this budget went from 2400 in 2023 to 1900 in 2024 cleaning supplies stayed the same at 2300 um plants and Shrubbery we are seeking to enhance the Landscaping of the pool much the same we are Town Hall we just installed some extra river rock that we had a town hall down at the pool um this is to continue doing that $1,200 that stays there first aid supplies $500 that stays that uh same amount as last year Hardware 350 that's the 90 account that stays the same as last year uh again otherwise not classified this is uh what I was discussing yesterday with a lot of the insurance um you'll see here biggest increase here other insurance which is the general liability insurance of the township went from $2,626 to $17,250 um this is an increase that's spread across the board I'll explain that later today uh that was a very large unsuspected increase that um unfortunately all towns around the state are seeing overall the 460 account $1,850 that stayed the same uh in 2024 it's for garbage cans chlorine tests garden hoses miscellaneous supplies furniture and Furnishings lawn furniture $1,300 that stayed the same as did umbrellas for a total in the 470 account of $2,600 overall the pool um you know maintenance side went from 306,000 8883 in 2023 to $317,500 th000 to pay for the new pumps at the swimming pool that's what you'll see reflected here Capital Improvement funds through the temporary budget uh we did front all 40,000 instead of the 26.5% so way the pumps can be done uh before the the pool opens uh we're currently working on that now one thing that I do want to point out um is our bonding and our debt for the pool um the pool hopefully is is starting to uh I don't know if I put him in here actually do you have the Deb service no I don't think I put it in here so anyway The Debt Service on the pool for this year is um we're really coming close to breaking even which is good as I mean Carrie would know more than anyone the pools ran a deficit for a number of years last year two years ago they anticipated deficit was 202,000 last year it was approximately 83,000 we're hoping this year it's it's breaking even which is inclusive of our debt payments on the pool we cast serial Bonds in 2012 that're finally coming due and um you know with less principle there's less interest which is making the utility A Little Bit Stronger um I know this year we talked about expanding the pool hours uh by 1 hour to expand you know closing time um something that the rec board is looking at now as well as a rate increase to compensate for the um extra hour and the additional costs and service that the pool will see anything on the pool you want to discuss with Marissa or no I understand that that we were getting almost to cutting even right with the debt service but hopefully we'll get there but then I don't know if we are there any anticipated big the pumps were the pumps were that was okay so that's all right we're not not doing too bad with that so as soon as the debt service is paid off which will be in the next couple years then it'll be self-sustaining it it will be and we may be we may be sustaining sooner um depending on what the bond market looks like in the interest rates some of those may be callable and we could look for a more favorable interest rate like we did with the town debt in July um we I really don't want to cast too much debt at the pool because it's you know it's a it's a weaker utility um and it's its revenues are not generated year round it's a seasonal Revenue um but I prepared a memo that the council seen at the rec board has seen recommending a a rate increase across the board which will obviously compensate for the extra hour of time and the extra hour of or dollar per hour per staff member um that we're paying these these employees right okay good um do you anticipate with the if the extra hour does in fact get passed that there will be an increase in membership because I know some folks were complaining about the closing I guess said 7 instead of the yeah yeah I think you know I think there will be an increase in membership and I hope that you know obviously we want as many people to join the pool as possible it's a it's a nice uh service that many towns are getting rid of their Town pools really uh yeah um some towns have tool I know last year Fairfield closed theirs and we are you know one of the few towns that are still kind of supporting a pool and have a pool that that supports you know the needs of the residents so I hope by adding the extra hour and and I do hope that the resident see that there is an extra cost with that too right I mean it's not you know you're adding an extra hours worth of time which is extra tax on the utility itself on the maintenance of the uh equipment it's longer use for the equipment less downtime so there's a lot of moving Parts associated with it but I do hope that that Spurs a little bit of Interest all right yep thanks Mara you're good thank you Mara Catherine you too what's up Catherine nothing much how are you doing good good do you miss the budget book no not at all not at all this is much better all right everyone knows Catherine from our library yeah hi Catherine jump right into it um so this year um Katherine's made some adjustments mostly with part-time staff um that's where I'm going to start the 10111 account um you'll see part-time staff in 2023 was $6,717 that's been reduced to $97,400 account which is internet access 5,300 that stayed the same 23138 heat power light 198 that stayed the same also water and sore 1,200 again that stayed the same there's not any changes there slight increase in the 230 account which is postage from 200 to 250 240 Printing and binding stationary forms $175 last year that was cut to 100 uh across a lot of departments um especially with the stationary forms if there's a way we can kind of cut that out having to order all that and either make it on Adobe or just reduce paper entirely it's kind of where we're we're moving towards which is why you see a lot of the Departments decreasing that amount conference in du's um that went from 625 in 2023 to 265 in 2024 there's a decrease there maintenance of other equipment uh there's an increase here and we'll we'll go through these line by line Heating and Cooling contract that went from 1,000 to, 1500 uh cooling and heating repairs 1,000 to 3,000 electrical repairs 1,000 to 2500 um fire extinguisher service 850 that cut cut to 126 yeah plumbing repairs 1,000 went up to, 1500 uh miscellaneous maintenance repairs 3,000 that went to 1,000 copy or scanner repair 5,000 that got cut to 3500 SMS security uh th000 that went to 11,000 again that's part of the um security security cameras that the library is putting in um you know which everyone should have cameras now uh door contract uh repairs which ironically enough the door is on its way out right it is um that went from, 1500 to 3,000 which is why here you see a increase from 15350 in 2023 to 27126 in 2024 370 account janitorial service 40,000 that got cut to 26,000 uh window cleaning contract 3500 went down to 2,000 Floor Care twice yearly 30,000 to 2,000 Pest Control 2500 to 500 and duck cleaning 0 to 7500 overall you see in the 270 account a decrease from 49,000 to 38,000 can I I'm sorry can I just ask a question just because of the the floor cleaning what's the status um Katherine I know the last I had heard from councilman misseri you were going to submit a plan for what was going to happen with the employees and yes I haven't I've had the same board members at each meeting that I've kind of brought it up I'm trying to catch as as many as possible for input before I send it over okay cuz yeah the floor I thought we're were going to do the floor after the election yeah okay so are we so oh yeah it's still it's still on I have to nail down a little tighter when the start date will be because I have to worry about when the um when the booths will get picked up but the the contractors will then to come in as soon as they're gone okay all right good thanks okay any other questions we we're good no okay thank you 290 account Professional Service there's a a um large increase here you see pal plus went from 24,000 to 34,000 that's the Consortium that the library is a part of uh computer repair and replacement 300 that went to 4,000 and um libraries retained the services of an attorney uh which there was no line for last year that went to 9500 overall the 290 account went from 243 to 475 for 2024 330 account um there's there's a a lot of uh adjustments here um children's books went from 5,000 to 1500 juvenile media 6,000 to 3500 periodical 7,000 to 3500 juvenile fiction there's a lot of just subcategories I'm not going to read them all um overall the 330 account went from $88,900 in 2023 to $582 52 in 2024 um again there's just a lot of juggling with these costs and whatnot in here 350 account office supplies um here you see an increase uh Children Service supplies 4,000 to 5,000 programming um from 55500 to $3,788 183 uh technical service 2500 to 5,000 overall this account sees an increase from $112,000 in 2023 to 23789 in 2024 um cleaning supplies light bulbs $500 in 2023 to 2500 2024 again this is another big increase here Group Medical for the library $19,750 in 2023 to $135,300 to 29760 in 2024 here's our here's the stat expenses also that you'll see the pension contributions $697 23 to $ 72,982 24 Social Security 39412 and 23 to 39618 and 24 um shy Bond $100 at fee stays the same and then our annual audit went from $1,113 23 to 1400 in 24 overall you will see that um the the 2024 budget comes to $944,000 uh last year to 2023 budget was $949,000 this is slightly more than the mill that the state requires only because of the insurance increases that is seen in the otherwise not classified accounts that we just went through okay any questions on the library good any questions for us no no no good I'll take you're dismissed all right theoretically take me a sec you're good no rush I got to get to I got to get to the next one anyway no rush CH you want to to come up I'll go through engineering real quick and then we'll jump right into you you uh yeah everyone knows Jerry yeah Jerry of course this year this year last year Jerry said as a supervisor of roads and uh what was the other Parks Parks this year Jerry sits as our director of DPW so we're very happy to to have Jer sitting here in that capacity I'm going to knock through the engineering budget real quick uh engineering staff uh overtime $628 I kept that the same 240 street maps uh running Maps 225 I cut that to $100 this year um no one's really looking for street maps 250 account conference in dues um we no longer have a full-time Municipal engineer on staff here um as the council is aware our Engineers through a cons Consulting um contract and we don't have to pay the engineering dues because we don't have a full-time engineer so in 20123 this line for the 250 account was $1,075 this year it's $375 $5 so it's a nice savings for us there um in terms of some some maintenance on the uh DPW building itself this was a $2,336 line in 2023 we have since reduced that to $336 in224 carpet cleaning 500 that was reduced to 275 um different types of rain gear and safety close 425 I kept that line the same 350 account uh office supply is$ 12270 that got cut to 1,95 cleaning supplies 500 that stayed the same desk Furniture last year there was $500 for that that's zero now they got the furniture last year overall engineering budget went from $3,119 in 2023 to 9,9 394 in 2024 1,000 I'm sorry $3,119 in 2023 to 9,395 in 2024 nice little decrease there now we're going to talk jer's World our shade tree account which is U 29155 um Here Again part of this again is the cap buffer I built up a little bit in the event I need to dial it back a little however Jerry will tell you we spend a lot of money on trees in town whether it's replanting pruning um you know having the arbous look at them uh in 2023 we put $40,500 in this line in 2024 that number is now $45,500 um that is the whole budget again 2023 is $4,500 2024 45,500 $5,000 increase that we could always dial back streets and Roads um one one increase you see here is in our part-time summer help that went from 7200 to 7680 again that's a dollar increase on the minimum wage uh truly we should look at eventually increasing this Beyond because the work really is beyond minimum wage uh what minimum wage would pay so slowly we could start building that up a little bit again that was 7200 and 23 to 7680 and 24 overtime kept the same at $88,000 250 account League convention and dues that was $50 in 2023 that number is now $0 SMS security $0 that's going to come out of the budget next year 299 storm um drain repair now and catch Bas and cleaning the D as part of the new ms4 ordinance that the council's aware of us adopting a lot of these have to be cleaned and recorded that they were cleaned regularly uh which is a very taxing task for our DPW nonetheless this account stayed the same 5,300 last year 5,300 this year Uniform Rental 320 account $426 stayed the exact same $426 330 books publication CDL license renewal um this is for people who want to go get um the CDL course we do pay for the the uh schooling and the the the test itself one time if you have to take the test more than once you have to pay yourself um and you have to have your CDL CDL licensing renewal 580 that got cut to 380 we had three new guys get the cdl this year J how many four uh three three so we had three employees get their CDL this year which is huge help for us class A CDL um we also give stiping to employees who do have it which is why you'll see a slight increase from 4,000 to 4200 overall this budget decreased from $ 4,655 in 2023 to $458 in 2024 supplies of the 350 account 200 that stay the same all right here's here's the real deal let's talk 370 account we use a ton of hot mix um that price went up that's for filling potholes and yeah it's pretty much it's over1 it's ton yeah you know because the the price of the fuels what changes the price of the S ball and so yeah it's it's it's expensive maybe 125 this year so T that's a lot um you'll see an increase last year we put 3,000 in that line this year it's 10,000 again barring the increase this is a little bit of a cap buffer for me I could always dial that back of here um concrete mix $700 that stay the same roadstone uh that went from $ 800 to 500 Road paint $1,500 everyone remembers at least I knew as a kid I hated seeing the curbs getting painting and been going back to school that's what pays for the paint on those curbs and crosswalks um catch Basin repair 2500 that's to build the um I guess the the Basin itself right yes yeah to rebuil them yeah Basin castings 2000 Street Post and sign um this here is another buffer account there's 12,000 in this that I could always dial back um fittings $1,500 and and clean sweep program $500 that's where we get the brooms and shovels and bags out of overall this account sees an increase from 24792 and 23 to 31492 and 24 again I could dial some of that back another big increase to 382 account uh oser requires our for a long time our first aid kits were out of compliance some of the Band-Aids I think were original to the building from 1950 falling apart which is not good so you see a increase here from $50 to $1,000 uh there's a company that comes and services the first a kit monthly and that's what this contract is now all right miscellaneous hand tools Hardware 2500 stayed the same propane refills 300 that increased to 400 small equipment repair 800 stayed the same grand total streets and Roads budget 378 576 and 23 to 401 427 and 24 again I could dial some some of that back with our cap once I get the calculation Pete couldn't make it tonight so Jerry and I are going to sit in and do Pete's together um Fleet Maintenance courses $0 on there there's really no change um 261 account Mains of other equipment 3,850 last year 3,850 this year no change there 262 overhead door repairs 600 um we have four doors at DPW that increased to 3,000 this year uh maintenance of of other items 475 that also increase to 3,000 for a $6,000 line again part of this is to combat increases and also the cap calculation um we are upgrading this year our new fuel-based um system which allows like fobs to actually pump the gas so we could see real consumption and whatnot um we currently bard of Ed gets their fuel from us so as does the fire department police department DPW um so that way we can keep better track of it it's a cloud-based Management Service um that account because of a new contract went down to 2200 from 2885 computer support for Ev stations we have three of them that's $120 to $600 this year the 290 account went from 3380 I'm sorry $3,880 23 to $4,125 24 welding increased the cylinder uh 175 last year 225 this year gear stayed the same $550 CD stipend this went from 300 to 1,000 because under this budget now we do have two CDL employees vehicle equipment and paint 250 that went up to a th000 384 janitorial supplies 250 went to 400 390 miscellaneous tools and Hardware 600 that went to 800 smoke detector alarms zero went to 250 um we get inspected from our our insurance and these are some of the recommendations that they we should have been making a long time ago but now unfortunately we have to do this year other expenses for equipment repair went from $10,990 to $188,200 overall the equipment repair budget very very modest increase of less than $1,000 2023 is $1 15,28 in 2024 is $16,200 a lot of this was because I changed um some of the salaries into the utilities and like I said yesterday I may be readjusting some of that even further any questions on equipment repair no all right Jerry snow removal there's Jerry's other baby oh yeah overtime kept that the same at 990,000 private contractors um 75,000 uh Jerry real quick let's just explain our new plowing method this year what we used to do and what we're doing this year so normally okay the uh the contractors would plow the South End separately from the DPW so this year we decided to combine the DPW with the uh contractors and uh this just works out so much better I don't have to worry about these guys leaving their area they're with our guys and our guys are covering all three sections of town which makes me feel better and then that breaks me away I could help the police with the whether they need salt or they need plowing I could help our guys out it just it takes a lot off of my plate and I'm able to run around and you know check everything and make sure everything's you know going smooth and so it definitely works out better it's way more effective this way yeah that's great you know for years I've heard like South End wasn't as good as the rest of the town I mean lots and lots of that kind of feedback which you felt badly about so I think evenly Distributing that resource and you know put layering them in with our people absolutely is is really smart yeah that's the way we should have done I mean to run around and try and find these guys well I mean I got a million things going on it's crazy there's a storm there's like at least there something breaks too right if the contractor's truck breaks with have a DPW truck with a radio in it behind that we could exactly radio for help they can radio the garage so the garage knows what to expect um the communication is way better I way better yeah absolutely and I think we're getting better results from it too good glad to hear that's great Jerry doesn't sleep during snowstorms I saw that first time was out there no sleep uh so 990,000 salaries 75,000 part-time help mail reimbursements $850 um plow parts and accessories 4,500 last year 5,500 this year um same type of account in the 361 that 6,000 went to 7,000 uh rock salt we went through a lot of salt that last storm um yeah we just ordered what another 275 P yeah right uh this is $110,000 as we said last year you know we had no snow last year so it would been very easy to cut this amount this year here to you know kind of give a fictitious sense of where the budget's at but it's not prudent because we may need it we may need more salt we went through a lot of salt with the last two storms um so you know as you can see the price of salt 6589 a ton that keeps going up and that changes um overall the snow plow budget last year 286 350 went to 288 350 this year very modest $2,000 increase we do a lot with that parks and playgrounds there's another little snap fo with this one here I I'll explain it uh overtime got cut from 10,000 8,000 um CDL stiens increased from 1,000 to 2,000 again one of the new CDL Drivers who's currently enrolled in the course and also received one is paid out of this account um in the 261 account you're going to see SMS security systems there's a $55 line last year now it's zero that was for the security at the Grove Avenue garages by um eaglesfield formerly blasy field we don't have the garages anymore and we don't have the security um organic herbicides that's something that we we place a premium on $450 um that stayed the same as last year that's in the event that we need to treat a certain area in town um 361 lawn mower misscellaneous repairs $3,500 stayed the same as last year all right let's talk about the 370 account clay for Ballfield 11,100 stay the same $500 for parks and benches safety of wood chips $45 00 Cory process th000 now all that stayed the same from last year but why is there a massive increase unfortunately it was brought to my attention that the the maintenance contract for Panther Park was paid out of capital um you can't do that so we are now putting it back into operating in this account here so the maintenance contract will be paid out of the proper account which is why you see a $177,000 increase in this budget from $7,600 in 2023 to $224,600 in 2024 uh this is unfortunately not one of the cap buffers that I would like to build in but is you know a real expense that we need to uh incur 385 grass seed fertilizer um be exterminators we've getting a lot of B calls right in the Parks and whatnot yeah this year this past summer especially a lot of a lot of beehives um so you'll see an increase in this account from 5900 to 6,400 um 390 account miscellaneous 400 that went to 700 that's miscellaneous hand tools uh holiday decorations U this is for the tree Ling which may I say I think was you know probably one of the best tree Lings we had this year both out front of town hall and at uh community park $647 that's the price that we were quoted uh to do it next year and generously smitties who did the lighting at Town Hall donated the tree lighting at community park so we want to you know plug that very nice uh generous donation that they they gave to the township Grant total for for um parks and playgrounds this uh went from 244 741 and 23 to 265 uh 259 and 24 and you can almost Target that increase just to the maintenance contract in in Panther Park any questions for Jerry on this before we uh Jerry DPW they do a great job they do a great job we're so lucky to have you guys awesome thank you really the best yep you're good to go buddy okay thank you so much thank you thank you you're welcome I'm just going to go through the insurance numbers real quick this is really what I wanted to talk to uh Council about all right group medical benefits um I literally went through each employes health insurance classification family uh parent child member spouse single um for all 110 employees um and calculated the insurance number out so in 2023 the state health benefits plan clost the township $3,280 627 this year we're expecting a clost of 3 million 590,000 for um it's a $310,000 increase some of this gets charged to the utilities uh but most of it hits current which the state allows you to exempt a portion of but again that's why we built in cap buffers Medicare B reimbursement that's for retired employees 77174 23 to 80,500 24 long and short-term disability not much of an increase there $155 2423 to 16766 in 24 Dental not much of an increase here 6586 to 71,1 39 same thing for the disability benefits in the dental plan I went through each plan uh specifically this is the breakdown of the expenses some of the Departments you've seen already some you haven't this is where we charge back the uh Insurance to to the different departments or utilities workers compensation 275 570 285 are very modest increase um but coming up you'll see the real uh pain in my heart was our GIF Insurance went from $350,500 th000 in 2024 um that's a big increase a lot of towns are seeing that a lot of that's on vehicle Insurance um anytime a claim goes in on a vehicle um the insurance goes through the roof because you know vehicles are are hard to come by their parts are hard to come by and the claims really uh I think our I think liability insurance on vehicles is up 14% this year so this is an expense too that I'm hoping they allow us to take outside the cap and um hoping that it won't affect our our cap calculation too much even though I do anticipated being a little bit of a of a uh challenge Rec programs 2375 that was bumped up to 2850 it's insurance for that here you're going to see the distribution of the GIF um assets to the different utilities the different charge backs and to the current fund last year you can see we charged $152,900 we're charging 29,028 that's your cap number there that's what the difference is the the increase in the cap that we we need to try to to work around with the cap buffers U let me I think I have my account yep lighting electrical lighting for street lights 168 168,000 in 23 174,000 24 we do pay psng for the lighting on the street lights and this includes $6,000 for the holiday lighting that goes up and down R 23 overall this budget went from 173 and 23 to 180 and 24 contingency account 10,000 um this is a catchall that went to 11,000 this year statutory expenses Public Employee Retirement System that's pers 634 268 and 23 to 655 390 in 2024 police and fire uh pension really just police pension here um one 1, 69512 3 to 1, 6919 5924 Social Security 438 74823 um and we kept that the same for for right now because there have been some other increases that we've offset in the utilities to compensate for that and here you could see the same chargebacks I'm not going to go through them all but this is where the chargebacks in the other departments go we'll get that at the end all right we're going to bring up Mike Roso to the water utility what's up Mikey hey Mike how's Mike's another guy just wears many hats here what's the thing you just took the the course the storm water inspectors yeah Mike became a ms4 storm water inspector for the township which save us a lot of time and money as well awesome all right water Administration um this has a lot of miscellaneous salaries in it a lot of this stayed the same overtime went from 7 7,993 to $8,000 postage uh water postcards uh $3,860 to $470 240 Printing and binding water bills $1,110 in uh 2023 stayed the same in 24 conference and du clle 170 to 250 slight increase there um here you're going to see maintenance of other equipment um this is our computer contract this year went from $7,300 last year to $1,200 this year um you will also see in here as I discussed yesterday in the 290 account Edmond software of the $112,000 that's one3 the cost a third is in general and a third is in sore um this will be for water and sore billing um as well as tax and pilot and finance operations Payroll Services went from 9,300 to 10,000 uh Suburban Consulting engineer this um used to be a salary in the water Administration side we've taken it out of salaries and put it into Professional Services because we no longer have a full-time engineer this is now done through a Consulting contract $78,750 there it's split between water and sore HFA consultant contract $10,000 in water um the breakout there was 25,000 in current 10,000 in water 15 in sore because the Sor is a slightly stronger utility to sustain that 3500 account miscellaneous supplies 1,800 stayed the same annual audit $674 323 8,480 24 overall the um water admin Administration went from 26069 to 32844 in 20204 water operating um part-time help uh same thing you'll see the same increase to 16 an hour from 6,000 to 6800 overtime U went from $ 58,216 to $63,000 we got a lot of overtime with um water and sore because even every storm whenever there's a lot of rain we have some sitting down there monitoring the pumps um that's that's a big uh overtime expense and as we'll get through it you'll see a lot of the other increases that um Mike has to deal with every day uh the 231 heat power light account 167 680 last year and 172 480 this year very slight increase there um this is a 6% increase in the 232 account uh new North Jersey district water supply and pic Valley Water Commission both both increased the purchase of their water by 6% um what does that mean it means we have to increase the purchase of our water by at least 6% um unfortunately this or fortunately depending how you look at it we do not treat our own water we purchase all of our water from these two suppliers overall this budget went from 926 474 in 23 to 985 in 20124 um much the same as the pool rates on the utilities have not been touched since 2017 um that's a problem the utilities need to be self-liquidating they are not and um with a 6% increase in water there will be an increase coming we're actually in the middle of doing a rate study now to uh to address that it's a long time coming right Mikey yeah we definitely need um 250 conference and dues 30285 that stayed the same motor vehicle repairs 4,000 that stay the same while Mike's up here I'll keep them up here we'll discuss some some water Capital so he doesn't have to stay the whole time another big increase here um 261 247 to 30,000 um again some of these numbers are subject to Minor Adjustments going forward but there's a big increase in uh chemical cost right I think that right pretty much anything that we touch is as everything else in this world they you know that the cost have just gone through the roof you know parts are like double to Triple so crazy uh 90 account Professional Services um all of this stayed the same with the exception of um adding CP Professional Engineers here um as this council is aware we've had some issues with the D and and the water that we've fought them on rather successfully largely with the help of CP Engineers uh they never had a line in water they were always a line in sore so now we put a line in water for them and I know you rely on them every day right yeah exactly they were also instrumental with helping us do the EQ tank yes okay water meters U 5,000 that stayed the same 320 $ 3,75 that stayed the same food meal reimbursements $1,000 stayed the same gas and fuel um this dropped $1,000 why did it drop $1,000 um we plan on replacing one of the diesel trucks with a gas truck which means we will need less diesel fuel um which is why you see a uh slight decrease here utility truck that's just for tires or whatnot $900 361 hydrant replacement uh that was 14,000 last year it goes to $18,000 this year what's it what's it a hydrant 3500 roughly to do a hydrant three to 4,000 now just to buy it just to buy it um and as we do as we pave streets we want to replace hydrant so we're not doing it um we do flush hydrons twice a year um this budget went from 3130 $ 31,3 23 to $353 in 2024 big expensier standing Stone every time there's a water main break we need to bring in stone um 10,500 this one up to 20 we will likely plug through this account oh yeah too yeah um you there's even that cost has went up substantially La Supply $600 to stay the same uh 390 miscellaneous hardware 1850 stayed the same um I'm not going to go through all this I just did it before with the council but this is the chargebacks of our statutory expenses and our health insurance uh just note the increase 402 868 and 23 to 455 573 in 2024 social security contribution uh stayed the same interesting what I I I want to point out is our debt service here um so notes in Municipal financing have to be paid off within 10 years before they convert to long-term financing uh anything over that convert to a bond all these were cast in in notes and that's why you'll see the next one due is in 2024 that's why we're paying the whole note off before it converts to a bond so the note from 14733 in the amount left of $145,000 will be paid off in full we're also going to be making substantial pay Downs on the note from 15 and we're going to continue making pay Downs up until 2020 and making interest payments on the other notes next year you'll see this list shift up um and if we ever do cast another type of refinancing we may consider consolidating or um converting to bonds depending on what the the market rates are um but the debt service for uh the Water Utility in terms of principal this year we plan on paying $260,000 in terms of Interest $92,400 any questions on water no water's tough right depends what they is it's expensive it is a very for sure I don't I don't have a question I just have sort of a general comment I think as as the costs go up we're going to get obviously um questions and concerns from from residents is there a way to communicate to them that we're passing on our direct cost so it's it needs to be done by ordinance right it's not like we could just right um so we're in the middle of doing a rate study right because I want to make it I don't want to just slap across you know to the residents any type of increase without justifying it um so the rate study is very detailed it's going to take all the other towns Fairfield just introduced noren on it Veron is doing it um it's going to take all the other towns of what their rates are it's going to take our operating costs it's going to take our debt service which is why I just went through that uh it's going to take a look at the infrastructure right like luckily we paid for the EQ tank out of cares act money but if we didn't have that we'd have to pay for it out of the revenues from the uh utility um and with the rate study when that's done I'll present to the council before we make an adjustment on the rate hasn't been touched in 2017 which is absurd because nothing is the same price that it was in 2017 right um but what I will say is we will you know obviously present it to the council for the review and consideration but I will also have you know comparisons with other towns um but unlike other towns like we're paying for the meter replacement out of out of our pilot Surplus right so that's other towns right I mean do you want to talk to that a little bit some towns are doing programs where you have to buy your meter basically so the cost would get you know put over onto the homeowner so that's why we're trying not to do that um you know our ordinance states that anything over a 1 inch meter would be bought typically that's a business you know commercial business so they would have to buy their own meter but for you know our our residents in town um you know we're trying not to put that cost over and a water meter now is over $300 yeah and keep in mind we do offer 2 MERS for uh irrigation purposes plus other towns make you pay for the installation right so you know realistically like a nominal increase even if it's not nominal but the utility needs to self-sustain what if the utility does not self- sustain itself that results in a deferred charge or deferred Charge results in being raised by taxation by law so one way or another if if these are in a deficit you're either paying for it by taxes or you're paying for it with a higher rate uh du utility yep thank you all right yep onto sore um water and sore uh 734235 624 am I water at oh yeah I am okay postage um this all stayed the same here sore bills 500 that actually increased $100 to 600 uh 240 account $1,110 to 1,250 $50 continuing seminars $170 to $200 uh same law soft contract here this is the computer support 12,000 broken out to the utility um we had prior it service if you want to even call it that and now uh you know we have a a real it provider that's able to help us uh navigate the new software and Technology we're implementing Professional Services here again you see the Edmonds software we're converting to um the Consulting engineer contract as well as the HFA contract that's why this budget went from 2723 to 10674 24 but the difference between here was the salaries that have been taken out from the salary portion I didn't go through those but this this increase is offset by the removal of certain salaries uh mainly the the uh Municipal engineer 350 account 1,800 stayed the same audit slight increase 6611 to 8480 um for for a grant total in the sore administration of $389,962 to an increase of $ 42,3 76 sore maintenance pump stations 3,000 stayed the same TV line inspection 16,000 stayed the same grit removal 20,000 stayed the same dies for leak $100 um clothing and uniform 1720 that stayed the same pipe repair materials 1962 that increased to 21,100 370 material and supplies 800 stayed the same uh 382 fire and other equipment 986 I don't know why was that last year went to $1,000 this year um supplies janitorial supplies $1,000 390 General Hardware cutting tool um pump and hose 1605 stayed the same overall the sore maintenance budget went from $212,600 4 now we're going to talk Mike's bread and butter sore operating this is the day-to-day right this is our this is what keeps us going yeah um overtime increased from 21935 to 23,000 again these are the guys that stay on during the storms um if there's a some type of backup or whatever they they come in um 230 account 8,400 that increased slightly to 8,700 231 account um you're going to see an increase in the treatment plant of $5,000 this went overall count went from1 65,536 2,724 treatment plant 2500 stayed the same it's 212 or 232 account sorry 250 conference and dues 4700 this is the licenses for the CDL Mike is also a um S1 uh S3 C2 W2 Mike's got a lot of licenses and uh that's what allows us to do what we do um so a lot of Mike's continuing education fees are paid out of this account here 260 um truck maintenance $3500 there's a $500 increase in that account 261 generator maintenance um 6500 that increased $500 RBC maintenance program $5,000 that's a $500 increase and there's a $1,000 increase in UV maintenance when we get to Capital we'll talk a little bit more about this uh fees for Professional Services same CP Engineers you see a $20,000 line here it stayed the same there's actually a $300 decrease in this 290 account from8 $872 to 8,42 uh oh is that pager test that's what it is right um sludge removal uh slated for this Monday's council meeting um is a two-year contract uh to Spectra serve they are the only responsive bidder for the council's consideration to remove sludge this amount went up from 255,000 to 275,000 why' it go up so much we are removing far more sludge than any other municipality in the nearby area because we don't have the capabilities to further refine the sludge to remove it so that they can come three times a week instead of twice a day um that's a capital discussion right that we could have in a little bit but that's some of the issues that we see with the uh Sledge removal contract labs and chemicals this is a big one talk about the gpack real quick Mike uh so chemicals so uh over the summer months we have a phosphorus limit and that's what uh that phosphorus is in the water that be basically discharge into the river where you get algae blooms so um you know so by feeding this chemical uh it aids in better settling cleaner water that leaves the plant but that also increases our sludge so um you know so these are kind of why chemicals High because of the new limit and now sludge also had to go up because we're get getting better cleaner water that leaves so so you're get you see an increase here 65,000 to 92,000 overall 66,000 to 93,000 in that account um 320 count uniform safety 33 uh $3,660 uh $10 increase $3,670 fuel and lubricants $400 increase here very nominal vehical repairs 1500 that stayed the same 361 I'm not going through all that 30,30 in 2023 3275 24 um flood emergencies $2,000 line just built in there part of the reason for that too is we could always do a budget transfer within the utilities in the event that this runs short but we have the line there just in case we need to ever classify in there 381 electrical repairs 2,800 stayed the same 384 janitorial supplies uh 600 that stayed the same misscellaneous tools and Hardware 800 stay the same uh the council is aware of the group chargebacks here I went through them before notice the increase 597 $597,000 to 67677 a24 these numbers are subject to change they may increase in the event that I have to remove them from current to fall within our cap calculation overall the um sore operating right the sore operating here yeah went from 1,583 45 in 2023 to 1,741 $188 in 2024 for with respect to our debt schedule here the store utility is in slightly better shape we don't have um only because the sore rates are a little bit stronger um 28,000 you see we're actually paying off quite a bit of debt here uh in advance the 14744 is going to come off completely uh the rest of the ordinances are going to be uh chipped away at but you will see that we are paying $236,000 um in principle here here what kills me is cuz these were cast at notes at a high interest rate we're paying $170,300 the water main on Brier Hill yes we're looking at that now yeah um there is more linear feet of repair on that water main than the actual original main itself that's Brier Hill why did I think that was Lakewood Lakewood is another issue that's fixed now it is okay um but to the point where we're afraid that we can't even pave over the street because the vibration from the roller will um ruin that so that's what we can anticipate for water capital for this year okay all right yep anything for Mike no thank you Mike for all you do we appreciate it you do a great job I'm I'm gonna rip through these real quick um go here to all right these real quick Public Utilities um this is what pays still this is literally what keeps the lights on in town hall and all our other buildings um you will you will see uh $221,000 line in 23 that goes to 22424 heat power light 231 account slight increases here 174 475 to7 7625 water and sore this is um for different buildings Lin's Den Morgan Farm Municipal Building uh fire departments and Community Park sprinklers $865 23 to $9,700 24 Fuel and lubricants this is um part of the vehicle maintenance but it's really gas charge to the fire department here just a breakout $16,500 um that's between gas and Diesel Police Department fuel for uh gasoline $56,000 there's an increase there from 566 to 576,000 um C defense phone lines uh 5,800 that stay the same uh Fuel and lubricants this is for um DPW uh gas and Diesel $47,000 23 to $50,00 in22 24 uh the senior bus 2000 in gas that stayed the same street lighting um I did that one vehicle maintenance all right this is where we pay for repairs to DPW Vehicles fire department vehicles and police vehicles um this is separate and a part of the budgets for each department um it's its own line within the minesa budget uh fire department vehicle maintenance U 24,7 00 that increased to 29,200 uh as the chief will explain when he comes up here we had a very big big expense with was it 72 we had engine 72 we had the big repair on yes yeah we just incurred a big expense on that so that's why you see a slight increase there police department um 39,000 the um repairs for police vehicles stayed the same um vehicle parts and accessories DPW 40,000 to 42,500 no there's no dollar amount for the recreation vehicle because that vehicle is replaced this year overall vehicle maintenance went from 107 223 to 113 224 loap stayed the same at 72,000 uninsurance also stayed the same at 25,000 with that I will call up our fire [Music] department how are you hello hi guys how are you good how are you good all right what's up Chief how are you Joe good how are you I'm hanging uh so the fire department will explain we have a lot of uh a lot of good things going on here fire department budget overall is is uh we say it every year the probably one of the best ones in town we get a fantastic service um for less than the salary of two- paid firemen and it's really we're very grateful for that and for the service that the the fire department gives to the township uh 220 account 2500 that's travel that stayed the same fire prevention um 1,600 that stayed the same conference indu 250 account 1100 that stayed the same the Wildwood convention um 700 that stayed the same there training in school um there's a slight decrease here from 193 to 168 that's um difference schools and whatnot firefighter 2 firefighter 1 thermal imaging like when's the last time you train on a thermal imaging camera it's been a while so you'll see a slight decrease there uh maintenance of other equipment there is an increase there from 157 to 16,000 uh 14 CER Street um now with North End being out of commission 14 Cedar Street's being used a lot more um you know I do hope in time that we can kind of revigor that building there's $3,000 in here uh just to make relatively minor repairs but I was speaking with the Chiefs last week um at some point there may be some type of collaboration where the township provides the materials fire department could provide the labor to make that a little bit more accommodating that Cedar Street Building uh that's something we'd certainly be willing to uh to work together on um this is the clothing allowance and stiens $984 last year 98,000 this year relatively the same um 1850 for recruitment the Department's been doing a really good job uh recruting new members how many members you said last week that you were told in the last year we've probably accepted probably 8 to 10 new members yeah of applications that have been going in so we have three in fire school right now yes which is huge and we seek to um you know anything we can do to support that we will appreciate that so that's 18850 there um Cascade fil 3 3900 last year 4,000 this year clothing and uniforms uh this is turnout here for the new members and whatnot $27,995 stayed the same um fire engine engineer magazine $250 stay the same but a lot of these accounts are still so if we have to transfer out of or or into uh come November December we have the statutory authority to do that stationary office applies 250 stayed the same tires for apparatus 1,400 um batteries 900 stayed the same air tank refill 8900 that went to 10,000 um digital camera supplies went from 300 to 150 hand tools 400 stayed the same small engine repair and testing there's an increase here from 137 to 15,000 um the fire the trucks have a lot of tools on them I just saw there's a new donation right for a uh Battery Milwaukee operated uh circular s um and as the councils where the draws of Life tools are what year or two they're about about a year and a half right so there's a lot of maintenance on these Serv every year to be Saied yep U brush truck has a lot of Saws and brush truck was at like two or three times last year yeah so it's a lot of the the smaller uh you know uh chainsaws that type of stuff that that is on in the apperas itself that often needs repair or you know just servicing keep it in function um so that's why there's a slight increase here overall fire department budget last year was 20746 this year it's going to 20850 um while the Chiefs are here I do want to discuss their Capital um and just largely what's going on in terms of the fire department Capital overall uh as the council's aware we are working diligently on starting the North End Firehouse which I do hope happen soon um last year we did a lot in terms of Center company here we there's new gym installed uh new storage area uh this year capital I hope to improve the exterior of the Southend Firehouse a little bit with some landscaping and some other enhancements uh and the Big Chief if you want to tell us what the big one's going to be in about two years uh so we are currently started a committee to uh replace our ladder truck um you know the township only has one ladder truck we have three engines One ladder truck um so the truck is uh about 20 years old now um the plan is uh usually every 20 years we replace a ladder truck so we we've had a couple meetings we've met a couple with a couple vendors already and uh we're going to meet with a couple more vendors uh we'll make a decision on that um but that'll be a big purchase uh we are limited by the space that we have downstairs um the ladder truck just fits barely so 39 39 about 39 feet 8 in we can't go an inch above that so um we're in the process of looking at replacing that ladder truck so it's going well yeah so that's that's going to be a big Capital item within you know a few years for the council to consider uh also um this year um radio reprogramming is a big one yes um I met with the Chiefs last week I know it's something we're going to uh put into Capital um the radios they need a key I believe like I you can explain it better the may but something we're look to see if we can do in-house whether we buy the key and then we can have uh the fireman program it um or if we have to Outsource it that's an option there um and there's a electric vehicle Noz so just for the counil edification so what what we've been seeing a lot more of are these electrical vehicles on the road and they're not you can't fight a fire on them like you normally would a regular gas engine um the batteries heat up and they have What's called the thermal runaway and it takes a lot of water to it doesn't extinguish the fire but just to keep it cool so they um they started making these new nozzles where we slide this nozzle underneath the car that's actually on fire and the water comes up from underneath and it's just enough to kind of cool down and keep the batteries at a cool reasonable temperature so we can continue to extinguish uh the rest of the fire in the car so so that's in for this year's Capital um anything else Chief you want to add for we got a lot of stuff going on I know emailed you guys before some grant opportunities yes um you know the fire department does a great job with uh got a lot of cool stuff going on we got we got a lot things going on and uh it's an exciting time yeah yeah it's going to be an exciting year hopefully with North and uh we're we're making progress we're making I can't say it I can't say it now on the record publicly but we are making good progress it it'll be good and it's true I mean like you said before two two what two paid firemen right would be the whole like it it saves this town yeah tremendous amount of money so thank you for doing that and for volunteering it all you guys really appreciate it got a good good group yes we do thank you for all your support from all always you know that anything else no chiefs anything else you want to add as your chance I think think Chris covered it okay thank you guys actually just on the electric vehicles we're seeing a lot more in town all the new uh developments I think are required to uh actually install electric vehicle Chargers Charing stations yes so they're usually in some of the worst places possible like underground in the back corner of the garage so anything we can have that kind of gives us the edge up on that also Chief explain the the most recent Capital acquisition that you were uh uh so we we we did uh buy a new command vehicle Theo it's a 2023 Tahoe um it's uh very nice it's a very nice car long long time coming in capital I was going to say I've heard about this Taho finally on the road no one thought it was real showed up on the road for a while I don't think we paid for it yet so we'll just good to know good to know don't say that no no we we we did pay for it but I'm glad to I'm glad to see it back out now all three trops have a vehicle now which is is good and and we are we got a lot of good stuff happening and and you know we certainly appreciate what you guys do great all right thank you thanks guys thanks for coming thank you have a good night you do the same thank you thanks guys take care joh take care everyone thanks you too all right before I call John up um OEM I'm going to just talk OEM before I pull it up here um you're going to see a slight increase in here from 12,000 last year to 21,000 this year I'm sorry 23 21,000 this year because um the police department needs new rifles and I don't want to artificially inflate the police operating budget so we're going to put it through there um again barring any juristic cap calculations all right what's up Chief how we doing good hi Chief good evening how are you good how are you um so police budget there's going to be some some big differences this year because uh when it was filed with the state last year whoever filed it left out the chief's salary last year he get paid he got paid still but it didn't reflect in our fast budget system when the former CFO entered it so we had a little little glitch little glitch but we're gonna try to work Beyond it um school crossing guards uh as the council's aware we are is actively seeking new crossing guards um there's an increase here from $138,200 um you'll see a slight decrease there 14478 to 14376 police overtime did a very good job this year keeping it under the 103,000 um with the salary increases of our officers there's a slight increase to 112,000 uh in the overtime I fully expect the chief to keep it beneath the $112,000 this year as well we will um payment for Holiday you're going to see that as a zero the reason you see that is zero is cuz I moved that to the actual salaries of the police officers I will show you an example of that where it's actually Broken Out by Officer now it's a little easier for us to calculate so take officer Wester for example um his holiday pay is now reflected in the actual line of his pay as opposed to everyone's holiday pay being lumped up into one holiday pay amount this is easier when we have to go out and actually make the payments make step adjustments it's already in front of us we don't have to go back and do these weird retro calculations um that's why you see that number as zero there overall the police salary budget went from uh 5,126 670 which includes all the part-time help the holiday pay longevity pay crossing guard pay to$ 5,323 79 220 accounts the the police department said they said to John frequently they did a really really good job this year keeping the operating budget to Bare Bon yeah um it is Bare Bones there's the only time we had to push it was when our our cost went up as contracts service fees uh our storage fees we run body cameras we're required to maintain all that and now we're in the process of Shifting to the cloud so those are the only increases and some of our cellular data because we've implemented alprs in town right everywhere Elsey much in the line and I'll explain the amazing you know abilities of of the chief in the department and and patrolman maoy who uh work very hard all you know together to uh keep this the way it is um a lot of these accounts they're so nominal increases 261 went from 95,000 to 96,000 one I really want to point out is the vehicle line okay so in vehicles you see $3,766 in 2023 and that was for the purchase of three new police vehicles um this year you see $148,300 obviously there was an increase in the cost per vehicle correct and we're also supplementing some insurance money to purchase a fourth vehicle um for this year's Fleet with with that so the amazing remember that number 148 322 because when I go to the grand total for other expenses 3482 74 back out the vehicles okay and you're left with $200,000 that the police department operates on 365 days a year 247 247 right $200,000 less the vehicles which is crazy yeah um so we really we do owe a great you know amount of thanks to the the department um for operating that way um the chief has seen it you know a lot of times we try to do a lot of things in house if we can well we do with officer M he's incredible at just making things work and saving us money and he's he's done that for his entire career so you owe it actually to him yeah $5,500 for tires right stayed the same um you know and these cars how often do these cars run how often are the cars turned off maybe if we're short of squad a car will sit in the back other than that the cars run 24/7 they areop um so overall the police budget this year um 5,000 sorry 5,000 you imagine 5,000 5,440 uh, $582 23 to 5, 650,000 in 2024 um this is inclusive with correct salaries correct um operating expenses and uh some other new um expenses like the chief said towards the maintenance of the uh data and and whatnot um the council's whereare chief spoke last week about the capital projects um you know including the desk renovation um body armor body armor uh upfitting some new lighting for the vehicles the Drone um I know I'm missing a few here uh that's so we were talking about up fitting for vehic retention vehicle retention um so you know the council is aware of everything that the the police do um they respond first for fire medical police their job description is beyond what right police be um you guys have any questions of the chief now or anything in terms of the police budget we sat for a long time last week to discuss Capital so I know that's so we'll wait to see what our wait and see where the Cap's at I I may do I may do some of their Capital Improvement fund which is what I discussed with the chief you know separately um and then like I said yeah but even since the last time we met there was an instance where we could have or two or instances we could have used the Drone right oh yeah we had the the burglary to the residents uh a week or so ago we had guys that we waited for an hour for a dog we could have accomplished that in 3 minutes with a drone we could have cleared the area yeah uh we had a group of kids get out of an Uber uh all the black ski masks we had to divert everybody to the south end of town trying to find them they were up near the TD Bank we could have cleared the area in you know 10 minutes with a drone yeah and then got back to where we needed to be cuz it's hard to search the entire town at once but if they onun foot we could have really done a great job from the sky right yeah I mean you know I just hope we can do yeah what we're what they what they I mean considering like you you know that we we do save in so many places you know hopefully we get the cap we can we can accommodate and yeah get all of these things if our cap is is if our cap permits it we're going to do it it's not even a question yeah I hope so Joe and I talking we're working together to try to see where we can tighten things up to to make everything work yeah ideally I I want to get the most things accomplished right and and you know a lot of it when you can see and practice the benefit of having a drone or the benefit of having these new tools you know it's nice to to be able to do that and say that we you know we're able to help our officers who like I said they're out there rain snow sleep or hail they're out there pushing you heard yesterday from from um judge Bizzy they they keep him very busy um and and they they follow up they do very thorough investigations and and U great Community uh relations right that's something that you stress you guys are very involved whether it's with the school students we' do school checks every day right yeah yeah National Night Out which we're hosting this year right we are yeah we'll have it back this year but it's it's a lot you know you guys do a lot we're very lucky we have a great Police Department it's a great group of guys you know great girls all right anything for the chief no just thank you for all you do appreciate thank you for all your support of course absolutely all right I'm going to just just go through our general Capital now um you're good Chief if you want go yeah all right thank good night maybe I didn't put it in here I here this will be quick um so just in terms of General Capital this year what the Township's expecting which is inclusive of all the um requests from the chief right now what I would like to see and I discussed with uh Mike Gro like I said before service body replacement uh in the in the water main that's out of the utility but in terms of General Capital um council chambers renovation uh one or two more offices inside town hall renovation um DPW has a few items that they need um a new snow Pusher and which is goes on the front of a loader it's about 12T long and it helps stack snow uh a new cat mini uh which is the little um excavation uh caterpillar that we use for water brakes sore braks we would actually trade our old one in and get some money back to purchase a new one um A new mason dump for DPW which we purchased one new last year by reappropriate some uh Capital money I don't have the list in front of I'm sure there's some other things on there but the capital budget's separate from the general one that we're discussing now yeah any questions on on anticipated capital or any of the uh budgets tonight no I think he did a great job thanks thank you very much very thorough so I'm hoping a lot of work these numbers are subject to change obviously I'm hoping that once we get the uh revenues literally before we started here I received our ads I'm going to go back to my office right now and start looking through that um once we get the revenue side downstairs we'll be able to marry uh the budget side with our cap calcul strike a tax rate and then hopefully have a budget adopted and reviewed uh by May yep great all right yeah this is great you did a great job thank you year two you did it year two we'll see if I'm back for year three back no thank you you need a motion mayor do I I was just going to ask for one do I have a a motion to adjourn so second roll call please councilman zazali yes