Ridgewood March 6, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Council to discuss organization of oversight board by John Koster The Ridgewood Village Council will formalize the possible formation of a financial oversight board to assist the council in formulating the budget and controlling taxes. The decision to pursue the option came as the first public response to the Tiger Team report – a volunteer appraisal of Ridgewood’s financial future that indicated drastic property tax increases if wages, salaries, and other expenses are not controlled. “It’s really generated a very important conversation,” said Mayor Paul Aronsohn, who introduced the council commentary on the report. “This isn’t the one and only conversation; this is the beginning of a dialogue.” The report by financial professional volunteers was filed several weeks ago, and the Feb. 27 meeting was the first official public response by the village council, whose members thanked the volunteers for their work. “The present situation is not sustainable and we’re kidding ourselves if we think that it is,” said Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli. “I am all in favor of a financial oversight board.” Pucciarelli added last week that the council’s goal with the budget now being formulated was a zero tax increase. He said he hoped any Ridgewood departments that requested spending increases would also recommend spending cuts to balance the department budgets -- and thus keep the entire budget increase flat. “Just because of the passage of time, we should not be paying automatic increases,” Pucciarelli said with regard to salaries and wages. “We’re operating under the assumption that we don’t want a tax increase.” Councilwoman Gwen Hauck pointed out that the State of Massachusetts mandates that each community have a financial oversight board. “In the State of New Jersey, Princeton has one, Rutherford has one, and there are five other municipalities that have one, so we would not be the first municipality to do it,” Hauck said. She recommended seven members as the optimal number, while Pucciarelli had recommended 10. They concurred that Chief Financial Officer Steve Sanzari and Village Engineer Christopher Rutishauser should be among the financial advisory board members, working in concert with Village Manager Kenneth Gabbert and reporting to the council. Hauck proposed several subcommittees within the tentative financial oversight board. No formal action was taken at the work session. However, Councilman Thomas Riche said the present municipal budget process was his seventh, and he enjoyed working with numbers and felt capable, with professional advice, of working on the local budget as a council member without additional oversight. He said that, since 75 percent of the taxes would go to the schools and the county, Ridgewood’s municipal government would be somewhat limited in what it could save without cooperation from the Ridgewood Board of Education and Bergen County. “I feel we should never defer our elected authority to an advisory board which does not have any official authority,” Riche said. He added that, at most, the council and advisory board could probably save residents about two tax points, or $100 to $200 a year, without violating contracts or trimming services such as street lighting and snow plowing. “The five of us really need to get together in a room and hash out what salary changes we want to make right there,” Councilwoman Bernadette Walsh agreed. She said (continued on page 10)