Franklin Township Council 2024 Budget Hearing – March 19, 2024

The Franklin Township Council held a virtual budget hearing on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, beginning at 7:00 p.m., to review the proposed 2024 municipal operating and capital budgets. Mayor Phillip Kramer chaired the hearing. Councilmembers Anbarasan, Kharazi, Onyejiaka, Deputy Mayor Potosnak, Uddin, Vassanella, and Wright, who arrived late, were present; Ms. Francois was absent. Township Manager Robert Vornlocker, Chief Financial Officer Kathleen Moody, and Financial Consultant Andrew Hodulik also participated. Public comment was opened and closed with no speakers.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No members of the public spoke. The Council voted unanimously to open and then close the public comment portion.

Fire Prevention Budget & Capital

• Fire Prevention Director John Hauss presented an operating budget of $8,981, a $371 increase over 2023. The net change reflects $771 for new state fire code books expected in 2024 and removal of $400 for firefighting air-pack maintenance, which the fire district agreed to fund.
• Hauss noted that his office spent 99.85% of its 2023 budget.
• The Fire Prevention capital item requests three fully outfitted pickup trucks, each totaling $79,363: $54,286 on state contract for the vehicle plus $25,077 for outfitting. Township Manager Vornlocker said the purchase would occur only if Fire District No. 1 fully funds it through a shared service agreement, and the township would be reimbursed. Councilman Vassanella questioned the arrangement but later expressed support.

Public Safety Budgets & Capital

• Public Safety Director Quovella Maeweather presented the police, 911 dispatch, animal control, OEM, and related capital budgets.
• Police operating budget: $714,700, a decrease of $59,550 from $774,250. No patrol sedans were requested. Director Maeweather called the $53,000 increase for supervisor and first-line officer training a better investment than cars this year, citing reduced liability and better officer management.
• 911 dispatch budget: $278,550, an increase of $18,750. The Motorola service contract decreased by $17,000, but a new $30,000 line funds out-of-contract repairs, batteries, antennas, headsets, and radio parts. Training costs rose about $4,000 because the township lost two in-house trainers, one through retirement and one death.
• Animal control budget: $49,280, an increase of $2,600, mainly for cleaning chemicals and supplies. OEM budget was flat at $12,800; no furniture purchase was needed because of a donated furniture from Prudential, while radio and equipment repair costs increased.
• Police capital items included Axon body cameras in year four of a five-year contract, replacement ballistic vests for officers whose vests expire after five years, mobile radio firmware updates, a $70,000 VR training simulator with two units and no annual service fee, a mandated $475,000 cell-block door upgrade, 10 ruggedized mobile computers, four Ford Explorer SUVs to make up for a shortfall in prior vehicle purchases, vehicle outfitting with Axon cameras, and a command-post vehicle shelter.
• Police staff explained that the OEM radios are dual-band radios needed for countywide interoperability and that the VR simulator supports mental-health, domestic-violence, motor-vehicle-stop, and shoot/don't-shoot scenarios, not just firearms training.

Open Space Budget & Capital

• Land Consultant Tara Kenyon and DPW Manager Carl Hauck presented the open space spending plan: $3,717,607.20 for salary/wages, operating expenses, and capital improvement funds, a decrease of $250,740; $4,622,579 including debt service, a decrease of $254,330.
• Estimated open space tax revenue is $6,883,059. A discrepancy emerged about the trust balance: Kenyon said it was slightly over $17 million, while Manager Vornlocker said that after interfund payables the 12/31/23 balance was slightly over $10 million.
• Open space capital requests included Catalpa Park improvements, with $2.2 million requested in addition to more than $3 million already in the project after years of DEP/SHPO delays; a landscape trailer; park amenities and ADA improvements; and a Van Wickle House flood study and action plan with temporary flood barriers estimated at about $80,000. Some items will be brought forward as separate capital ordinances.

Public Works Operating Budget

• DPW Manager Carl Hauck presented the following operating budgets:
• Streets and roads: $179,150, up $26,450, largely due to road materials and asphalt price increases. Council questioned a fire alarm contract appearing in this line, and staff said they would report back.
• Snow removal: $455,750, unchanged. The storm trust balance was $792,693.50 at 12/31/23; $365,000 was moved into the 2024 temporary budget, with roughly $250,000 spent.
• Condominium roads: $100,000 for reimbursing homeowners associations for snow removal.
• Sanitation: $636,687, down $240,163, because a $304,412 recycling grant offsets the $865,600 cost of Somerset County Recycling Services. Council credited DPW's business recycling outreach for the increased grant.
• Buildings and grounds: flat at $399,000; Hauck praised the current cleaning contractor.
• Vehicle maintenance: flat at $213,000.
• Board of Education transportation: $282,854, down $39,371; this is a zero-net shared service budget for maintaining the school district's fleet.
• Shade tree budget: flat.
• Utilities: $2,695,000, up $180,000, including $70,000 for telephone and internet. Councilman Vassanella questioned the $500,000 gasoline/diesel line because less than half had been spent in 2023. Vornlocker and CFO Moody cautioned that fuel prices are volatile and under-budgeting could force an emergency appropriation; staff agreed to review the line before finalization.

Public Works Capital

• Road resurfacing was increased to $4 million, corrected from $3.5 million; crack sealing is budgeted at $100,000. Other road capital includes stormwater and streetscape materials, guardrail work in phase 9 of 10 at $100,000, a catch basin survey and replacement program tied to the DEP MS4 mandate, and Skillman Road beacon improvements.
• Building capital includes DPW security lighting, town hall sidewalk replacement, library electric vehicle charging station installation, police and CRB fire alarm system replacement, and replacement of a 40-year-old vehicle maintenance lift.
• Vehicle capital includes an 18-foot trailer, replacement of a 15-year-old diesel dump truck with a rotted steel bed, and a stand-on mower for tight areas.

Water Utility Budget & Capital

• The water utility operating budget is proposed at $18,039,438, an increase of $3,314,000 over roughly $14.7 million. The largest driver is a $2.45 million increase in purchased water from New Jersey American Water and New Brunswick Water due to higher rates and larger allocations.
• Officials discussed increasing the New Jersey American Water daily allocation to 5.25 million gallons, with a maximum of 5.75 million; New Brunswick supplies about 2 million gallons per day with a cap of 4 million. The 2023 water rate increase did not cover the 2024 purchased-water cost increase, so a future water rate discussion is expected.
• Water capital includes meter and hydrant replacement programs, water main replacement, apartment master-meter pit retrofits, large industrial meter replacement, water main loop projects, $600,000 for interconnect meter pits to track supplier water, Landing Lane pump station flood fortification, increased Caseon pump station costs, and a proposed 100-foot-by-80-foot pole barn for water utility storage. Carl Hauck said interconnect meters could have detected a 13-million-gallon loss during Hurricane Ida.

Finance, Benefits, and Other Lines

• CFO Kathleen Moody, Manager Vornlocker, and Financial Consultant Andrew Hodulik presented the remaining budget lines.
• Finance budget: $32,576, up $13,500; professional consultant services are $345,000, up $14,250.
• Audit services are flat at $71,500, with CFO Moody noting a contingency for a possible single audit if grant volume triggers one.
• Liability insurance: $1.365 million, up $165,860; workers' compensation is flat at $50,000.
• Health insurance: proposed total about $9.57 million, an increase of about $1.8 million over the $7.79 million 2023 budget. Actual 2023 costs were about $9.8 million. The increase is about 24%, lower than the broker's 38–44% estimate, and employee contributions and reimbursements offset the gross cost.
• Library appropriation rose 8.15%, set by state formula. Pensions total $7,692,646, up about $180,000, and are statutory. Interlocal health services increased $14,454 under a 2% annual contract.
• Debt service is $3,300,983, up $254,058, including a recently issued bond; the consultant reported the township remained below statutory debt limits.
• Other lines: public defender is budgeted at $20,000, corrected to a $3,000 increase due to reduced collections; tax appeal reserve is $2.878 million; accumulated leave reserve balance is $2.4 million against an estimated $6 million liability; tax title lien foreclosures is a $50,000 pass-through; the contingent account is $2,000 and statutory.

Council Discussion

• Council members questioned several items, including the fire prevention truck reimbursement plan, the fuel budget, water interconnect meters, and health insurance cost growth. Staff committed to review the fuel line and correct spreadsheet and formula errors noted during the hearing. A Financial Oversight Committee discussion was scheduled for the following Monday, and remaining budget questions were to be resolved before adoption.

Key Outcomes

• No public comments were received.
• The hearing was informational; no budget ordinance was adopted.
• Staff will revisit gasoline and diesel budgeting and correct several spreadsheet issues.
• Separate capital ordinances are anticipated for Catalpa Park and Van Wickle House flood work; other DPW capital items may be grouped.
• The Fire Prevention truck purchase will proceed only if the fire district agreement is finalized and reimburses the township.
• Water utility cost increases will require a future discussion of water rates.
• The meeting adjourned by a unanimous vote, with Ms. Francois absent.