Politics & Government

Committee to Debut 2013 Budget at Meeting Tonight

The West Deptford committee is also slated to discuss the issuance of as much as $5 million in tax anticipation notes.

The West Deptford township committee will make a second attempt to introduce its 2013 budget at its Thursday night meeting.

The first attempt didn't fare so well, with a heated discussion between Commiteeman Sam Cianfarini and Committeewoman Denice DiCarlo devolving into arguments about the budgeting process.

This week, the issue will be further colored by the news that the township is seeking to issue up to $5 million in tax anticipation notes in the same agenda.

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Cianfarini told Patch on Wednesday that the notes will be necessary since the introduction of the 2013 township budget has been delayed—in part, he said, because "We can’t get a straight answer from the county government about final assessment values.

"We can’t find out what the actual penny will raise because they won’t tell us their assessment in this town," he said. All the other towns in the county are reporting that they’ve got their numbers."

Find out what's happening in West Deptfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Without knowing concrete figures, Cianfarini said that he'd asked every department in the township to effect a 6-percent cut over their 2012 budgets as a start.

"That was in order to try to keep our property taxes the same as last year, to keep up with the devaluation from the county," he said.

Recreation is not exempt from those requests, said Cianfarini who had even proposed layoffs among RiverWinds staff, a move that was rejected.

"The investments we’ve made in recreation assets in this town are far from reasonable and far exceed any forethought or planning that impact the tax base," Cianfarini said.

"I’m not against recreation or anything that enriches our community, but I am against taxing people for losing programs that aren’t thought out," he said.

A full one-third of the township budget is dedicated debt service, Cianfarini said, "and a big chunk of that is because of the RiverWinds complex," fees for which the township escalated in an effort to raise revenues..

"I will be driving for cuts," he said. "Where there’s human resources or other expenses that are not absolutely necessary, I will be driving for cuts there. It’s something that has to be done."

The committee meets tonight at 7 p.m. in the township municipal building.


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