Sparks Fly at Committee Meeting; No Budget Yet

Fault lines in the working relationships of township committee members were put on public display Thursday, as arguments over township finances smothered any formal introduction of the 2013 municipal budget.

Mayor Ray Chintall was forced to lean heavily on his gavel, alternately quieting the body on the dais and those in attendance, who hooted or grumbled depending upon their seating arrangements.

Committee members Denice DiCarlo and Sam Cianfarini were at the center of what have become commonly contentious exchanges, with emotions running high amid the strain of flagging municipal revenues.

The arguments swung on a convoluted budget presentation from Cianfarini that illustrated how deeply the loss of ratable properties will be felt by West Deptford taxpayers, and how little he wanted to be the bearer of that news.

9 cents versus 5 cents

The budget that Cianfarini began to introduce, falteringly, would have increased taxes by $2.115 million, or 9¢ per $100 of assessed property value.

Those figures represented an 11.45 percent increase over 2012 figures, or $186 per household, on average, Cianfarini said. By those calculations, he said, approximately half of that increase (6 percent) owed to county PILOT assessments “devaluing our properties" and potentially inflating estimated tax bills, “forcing you to dig into your pockets to pay for these things.

“[In 2013] a penny raised $235,000*, where last year that penny raised $254,000,” Cianfarini said.

“The average assessed home [valuation] has gone down from $208,000 to $207,102. We don’t have final figures from the county yet, so that’s part of the problem.”

Cianfarini then ticked off a number of measures that the township could employ to decrease that amount—including tapping into its savings and deferring school taxes—before then beginning to describe a different set of plans he had apparently worked up for a budget that would levy 5¢ per $100 of assessed property value.

“We could employ most of the subcommittee budget cut recommendations that would total $407,000 off this budget,” Cianfarini said.

“We could use $400,000 of reserves," he said. "We don’t have to do it, but we can assume, right here and now, tonight, that we would use about $400,000 in a [school] tax deferral methodology.”

'The numbers are very fluid'

At that point, Committeewoman Denice DiCarlo broke in and asked Cianfarini where he was heading.

“You’re quoting numbers that I have never seen or heard,” DiCarlo said. “You have yet to give the full committee numbers out of the [finance] group.”

“The numbers are very fluid at this point in time,” Cianfarini said.

“I as a committee member have gotten two pages of support here, and a lot of documentation, that a lot of it didn’t even tie, wasn’t right,” DiCarlo said.

“You’re talking about 9¢, you’re talking about 5¢. I hope you’re not inferring that we should do a school tax deferral,” she said.

“In the past we’ve done school tax deferrals of $12 million,” Cianfarini countered. “I think we need to introduce this budget that’s fair for the taxpayers.”

“As we’re going forward, it’s something to look at,” Chintall added.

Best practices guidelines

DiCarlo challenged the ideas of deferring school taxes and dipping into the township reserve funds as contrary to the state-issued best practices for municipal budgets.

She asked Cianfarini whether he had considered those guidelines in his oversight of the budget.

“I rely on the administration. I rely on our professionals. I deal with them,” Cianfarini replied. “Are we going to work together like we said at re-org, or are you going to throw barbs?”

“If we’re going to work together, why would you give me two pages that we’ve never discussed?” DiCarlo asked.

“I have sent multiple emails to our acting CFO [Brenda Sprigman], who I know is trying, and we have not had the information," she said.

“You’re throwing numbers out here that we’ve never heard before, that the public is hearing for the first time," DiCarlo continued. "And on top of that, Sam, if you go through the state’s best practices, you can see why I can’t support cuts like that.”

“Last year you voted no at the introduction of the budget and no at the adoption of the budget,” Cianfarini said.

“As a committee, we have a state mandate to introduce a budget," he said. I’m simply trying to produce something that will be livable for this community.”

“Publicly acknowledging that you’re not willing to work with me in emails is not working with me,” DiCarlo said.

“There is no transparency, Sam,” Committeewoman Donna Szymborski said.

'We have plenty of time ahead'

Eventually, a frustrated Chintall brokered a peace by getting everyone to agree to revisit the issues in an extraordinary session at a later date.

“Even though I’m not happy with it, we’re looking at a 9¢ raise,” Chintall said. “We have to introduce it. We have plenty of time ahead.”

After the meeting, Cianfarini described some of the eleventh-hour issues that ultimately derailed his intended presentation.

He said that the finance committee had been considering a 7¢ per $100 increase, but that he was getting changes from the consultancy group working with CFO Sprigman that jumped that figure to 9¢ per $100 levied.

“I was not going to introduce a 9¢ increase,” Cianfarini told Patch after the meeting.

“I will not support a 9¢ increase," he said. "I’ve had businesses as well as residents tell me, ‘I’m ready to leave.’”

Cianfarini also blamed the confusion on strained communications between himself and DiCarlo, and said he “tried communicating early on [that] I want things in emails because it’s been manipulated too much.”

But DiCarlo said that some of the ideas Cianfarini presented in his public remarks concerned her, especially sight unseen.

“When you talk about getting into surplus, that’s not a best practice, and that can affect your bond rating,” she said.

“I just think there needs to be stronger communication,” DiCarlo said. “[Cianfarini] was prepared with a 9¢ budget and a 5¢ budget. It should have been stricken from the agenda.

“If you are trying to be transparent, how do you operate like that?” she said.

*Correction: As quoted by Mr. Cianfarini originally, the figure above was $135,000. He notified Patch that that amount a penny raised this year was $235,000.