Politics & Government

State to Hold Meeting on West Deptford's Financial Picture

Republicans clamor that this is the financial oversight they've requested for years. Democrats say the state is concerned by the surplus spend-down in the 2013 GOP municipal budget.

The partisan battles that have characterized the 2013 West Deptford municipal budgeting process will rage on at a higher level on August 14.

That's the date when the Division of Local Government Services (DLGS), the state board that oversees the adoption of New Jersey municipal budgets, has set a hearing to determine whether West Deptford will be headed for stricter oversight as a result of its handling of its local finances.

At last Thursday's committee meeting, West Deptford Administrator Eric Campo told the governing body that he had been notified that the excessive amount of debt in the amended 2013 budget would trigger a state hearing.

In a July 24 memo to the committee, Campo explained that because the 2013 budget, as adopted, includes a more than 25 percent year-over-year increase in debt payments, "the Township will need to appear before the Local Finance Board at an upcoming hearing."

Forward-looking discussion

Two days later, DLGS Director Thomas H. Neff sent a letter to West Deptford officials naming the time and place of that meeting, as well as setting the stakes of the outcome.

(To read Neff's letter, click here. Credit: WDTruth.org.—ed.)

According to Neff's letter, West Deptford exceeded this same 25-percent debt threshold in 2001 through 2010 with the blessing of a prior DLGS administrator.
 
Although that level of oversight is not common, the director noted, it had been necessary, as the township was carrying a higher debt load in those years.

"I am well aware that there is considerable controversy at the local level as to the advisability [of] some of these past issuances of debt," Neff wrote, "though the individual issuances are not the focus of the Board's hearing."

Although Neff's letter seems to explicitly express that the state could potentially choose to exercise financial oversight over the township out of concern for its future operations, Committeeman Sam Cianfarini interpreted the action as a vindication of his prior critiques of West Deptford leadership.

"As private citizen Sam Cianfarini, I recognized that justice was being compromised for our community and our way of life was in jeopardy almost four years ago," Cianfarini said in a press release he issued Saturday.

His statement catalogues a list of officials to whom Cianfarini said he brought his criticisms, including Gov. Chris Christie at a town hall meeting in West Deptford in 2011.

"Having fought for this community for over four years to have this compromise in justice exposed is only partially rewarding," Cianfarini's statement reads. 

"Application of state law designed to prevent communities from getting into the fiscal condition that triggers a Local Finance Board hearing has mysteriously alluded [sic] our community for far too long."

Cianfarini's statement concludes with an invitation to "every West Deptford resident who believes the injustices which have plagued this community require correction" to attend the August 14 meeting.

'It is his doing that has created this instance, not the past'

But Democratic Committeewoman Denice DiCarlo called Cianfarini's press release a "rambling mess" that indicates a failure to recognize Neff's letter as a reaction to the handling of local debt as outlined in the budget Cianfarini himself authored.

"That budget that he approved, that was his budget, is taking us backwards, and I believe the state’s recognized that," said DiCarlo, who earlier this month wrote her own letter to Neff expressing concerns over West Deptford's finances.

"It just clearly shows you that [Cianfarini] doesn’t understand municipal process," DiCarlo said. "It is his doing that has created this instance, not the past."

As to Cianfarini's invitation for West Deptford residents to testify at the meeting about any persistent, prior injustices, DiCarlo said the committeeman "clearly did not read" Neff’s letter.

"Mr. Neff’s letter basically said he is not discussing any of those issues," DiCarlo said. "[Neff] isn’t going to let a bunch of people come in there and be a dog-and-pony show the way [Cianfarini] has run our township committee meetings for the last two years.

"Most people will march up to the state expecting to be heard, and they’re going to be disappointed," she said.

DiCarlo added that whether either side of the aisle agrees with how the state or the township handled prior debt issuance by West Deptford, "sitting there and rehashing what happened isn’t productive for anybody. 

"I think it’s one of the major reasons we have not been able to move forward as a town," DiCarlo said.

"I’m not saying I agree with every decision that was made in the past," she said, "but even [the state is] realizing that [the hearing] has to be forward-looking."

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

Possible impact

If the DLGS determines that West Deptford will need state oversight, it might not be a welcome contingency. 

New Jersey law allows for "the imposition of special restraints" upon municipalities that are "in, or in danger of falling into, unsound financial condition." 

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

These policies are meant to "forestall serious defaults upon local obligations and demoralized finances that burden local taxpayers and destroy the efficiency of local services."

Such restraints could mean West Deptford isn't allowed to issue any more bond anticipation notices to resolve any outstanding balances, including for school district needs

It could mean tougher tax collection methods are employed for residents, including the liquidation of outstanding liabilities.

Even if there's no legal penalty for not taking the state's guidance, whatever it might be, a ruling by the DLGS could compel West Deptford to follow its orders under such oversight, thus limiting the flexibility of the local government to make its own financial decisions.

Neff's letter invites "anyone wishing to testify at the hearing" to register in advance with DLGS Executive Secretary Patricia Parkin McNamara, providing a copy of "any testimony or material intended to be shared with the board" by e-mail at pat.mcnamara@dca.state.nj.us.

The deadline to R.S.V.P. is Tuesday, August 6.


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