Our Plan:
Restore the Integrity of the Mayor’s Office and Cut the Waste:
We will save the taxpayers of Monroe Township approximately $300,000 on day one by not accepting any payment, alternate positions or Pensions if we are elected.
Mayor: $15,000
Mayor is currently also Police Commissioner: $15,000
Health Care Opt Out Check: $7,000
Stipend: $3000
Total savings over 4 years: $160,000
Council 2 Members: $6500 each
Health care opt out $7000
Stipends: $3000 each
Total Savings over 4 years: $132,000
Total: $292,000
Cut Political Patronage Jobs:
There are several political patronage jobs that were awarded to a former councilman, owners of the engineering firm and law firms. We will eliminate those positions day one. Those positions are nothing but rewards for political allegiance and do not serve the taxpayers.
Owner of Center State is also an employee. The Director of Center State is also a township employee. They charge us as a firm and also are employees that will receive pensions that taxpayers are footing the bill for.
Position elimination savings: $370,000
Bring Professional Services in House: The Board of Ed did this while Ken Chiarella was on the Board. The savings has been $300,000 since implementation in 2014. The savings for Monroe Township by bringing services in house will be 2.1 million dollars. The current law firm is budgeted at $675,000 per year, but they also charge for the tax appeals phone calls, lawsuits and everyone other billable item. Bringing those services in-house will save the Monroe Township Taxpayers millions of dollars.
Savings: $2.1Million Dollars.
Open Space Tax:
We will put the open space tax to a vote for the people to decide. It is our belief that we can cut the open space tax and increase the acquisition of open space. The current administration is using open space dollars to award the politically connected and to use the funds for things like fixing tennis courts at the high school for $300,000. Of course, they only did this after we shed light on the fact that the Board of Ed and the Administration have had an awful relationship. The Administration even charged the Board of Ed 2 million dollars to connect the new high school and Oak Tree School. Those are your tax dollars being spent where there should have been an agreement to save the taxpayers’ money.
The current open space roster includes things like retention basins, easements on private property, berms, golf courses, sewerage treatment sites, schools and even the toxic waste dump on Spotswood Gravelhill road. We can save 1 million dollars in open space taxes and still acquire more real open space land.
Savings: $1 million dollars.
Shared Services with Board of Ed and Surrounding Towns:
We have an opportunity to work with the Board of Education on shared services for things like plowing lots, paving and by creating economies of scale when purchasing fuel, heating oil and paper.
The township owns the equipment that can pave and plow and yet the Board of Education hires out contractors to plow the schools when it snows and to do things like paving. For instance, the Board of Ed could buy the materials and the township could pave the parking lot at the tennis courts which is currently very dangerous. That would enable a cost savings for taxpayers.
Snow plowing and landscaping alone would save the taxpayers an inordinate amount of money. The township has the staff and the machinery. Why are we paying twice for these services?
Plowing Paving and Landscaping Savings at Schools Savings: $348,000 per year
Total savings: $4,110,000