September 18, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 7 Area Towns to get full refund from utilities authority Seven area municipalities will be getting back from the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority the full $1.6 million they believe is owed them. The towns had placed the funds in the debt service reserve when the authority’s plant was built in 1965. The bonds matured last year but the authority initially proposed to use the money to fund current capital projects, to reduce annual charges to members and to offset future rate increases. Bowing to pressure from the mayors of the affected municipalities, who insisted on getting the full amount, the NWBCUA commissioners last week adopted on first reading a resolution revising their 2013 budget to reduce the fourth quarter service charges by $1,598,983, an amount negoti- ated down from $2.3 million between the towns and the authority. The modification will still need to be adopted following a public hearing at a future meeting. “We are optimistic, but until we have something in our hands, we’re going to reserve comment,” said Waldwick’s Bor- ough Administrator Gary Kratz, whose town had taken the lead in pursuing the refund. Allendale Mayor Vince Barra, who served on the negotiations committee, expressed greater confidence. “I am pleased with the decision of the commissioners of NWBUA to return $1,600,000 to our towns. I think the deci- sion is fair to both the towns and the author- ity. We look forward to working with the NWBUA in the future to provide excellent service at the lowest possible cost to our residents.” Wyckoff Mayor Rudy Boonstra echoed those sentiments. “The mayors of the towns involved wanted the full amount, and that is exactly what they did. Speaking for myself, I am pleased with the action they took and appreciate their efforts and their engage- ment with our subcommittee,” Boonstra noted. NWBCUA Executive Director Howard Hurwitz said the budget revision would not affect the authority’s operating budget because the moneys were budgeted in a Safety Night scheduled The Upper Saddle River Fire Depart- ment invites the public to its Eighth Annual Fire Prevention and Safety Night on Wednesday, Oct. 9. The event will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Upper Saddle River Fire Headquarters at 375 West Saddle River Road. Programs will include vehicle extrication demonstrations, fire truck rides, and a fire safety house. In addition to the exhibits, there will be refreshments and giveaways. The event will be held rain or shine. separate column. He said the funds had been intended to be returned to the munici- palities by mitigating future rate increases. “It might affect them in the future,” he said. He added the authority’s attorney and auditor were now working on filing the appropriate documents with the NJ Depart- ment of Community Affairs, which must approve the change. A draft resolution Hurwitz circulated to the mayors of the affected towns last month proposed returning only $800,000 this year and placing the remaining funds in reserve to be applied to future rate stabilization in the 2015 and 16 budget years, “when sig- nificant service charge increases are pro- jected,” If all goes according to schedule, each town will get its refund proportionate to its user assessment. The approximate fig- ures are: Allendale - $200,000 (12.48 per- cent); Ho-Ho-Kus - $82,700 (5.17 percent); Mahwah - $470,000 (29.34 percent); Mid- land Park - $150,000 (8.85 percent); Ramsey - $300,000 (18.6 percent); Waldwick - $210,000 (13.02 percent); and Wyckoff - $200,000 (12.33 percent). The other current member towns are Franklin Lakes, Ridgewood, Saddle River and Upper Saddle River.