Ridgewood March 13, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Village faced with cutting jobs or raising taxes by John Koster The Ridgewood Village Council faced a budgetary dilemma at last week’s work session. At issue is whether the council should accept a 1.5 point tax increase in the municipal budget, or lose 13 municipal jobs to save the money needed for a zero budget increase. Ridgewood Village Manager Ken Gabbert told the council that, despite generally excellent cooperation from department heads who were told to adjust their subsidiary budgets for a zero municipal-purpose increase, the village would come up $460,000 short of the funding needed for a flat tax if 13 public sector jobs were not eliminated. Gabbert said six or seven jobs could be eliminated by retirement, but the others would require layoffs such as the 34 layoffs that took place amid controversy in 2010. Under questioning from the council, Gabbert said that five of the layoffs would be in the public safety sector, such as police, fire, and emergency workers. “I think the public should really weigh in on this,” said Council Member Bernadette Walsh when she learned that public safety jobs would be at risk. “There are people who care about the library, there are people who care about Graydon Pool, but I think the public should really weigh in on losing five public safety workers.” The idea of fund increases to the Ridgewood Public Library was also discussed, with a $62,000 increase of library funds being considered, bringing the library back to the level of 2010. Council Member Thomas Riche asked what the actual impact of the 1.5 tax point would be, and Gabbert estimated the increase at $225 for the average household. Several more weeks of discussion are contemplated before the budget will be (continued on page 8) Ridgewood will be one of two North Jersey communities to be featured in support and recreation activities related to the next Super Bowl. Last week, John Saraceno attended the village council meeting to urge residents to start thinking ahead. Standing in for Glen Jorgensen, who is also involved in the planning but could not make the March 6 meeting of the Ridgewood Village Council, Saraceno said that Super Super Bowl will aid village Bowl support could provide some business for Ridgewood restaurants and for ancillary activities. The other North Jersey community being featured is Montclair, which is also replete with restaurants and shops that might benefit from added tourism. “This is just getting off the ground,” Saraceno said. “I think it’s going to be really great.” J. KOSTER