Have Your Say: Montclair Close To Finalizing Budget; Public Hearing Set For Tuesday

It's been a long road with lots of twists and turns, but the Montclair Township Council is finally on the verge of passing a 2010 budget. Last week, the council approved a resolution to amend the budget, decreasing appropriations from $70,687,749.71 to $70, 417,608.71.

The council had to take this step in order to hold a legal public hearing on the budget, which is now scheduled for 8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 14 in council chambers at 205 Claremont Avenue.

For a look at the meeting's agenda, go here.

For a look at the proposed 2010 budget, go here.

Both Mayor Jerry Fried and council members have urged the public to turn out at that meeting and to get involved.

The budget, which would spark a 6 percent property tax increase, has been controversial from the start, making cuts to the Montclair Public Library, the Montclair Community Pre-K, and the Montclair Arts Council.

Some money, however, has been restored. For example, originally the council planned to slice $700,000 from the Montclair Public Library's budget, a proposed cut that now stands at only $450,000.

Even so, there has been a great deal of discussion about whether the Bellevue branch library — now open only on Mondays — will have to be closed.

In addition to Tuesday's public hearing, Fried also encouraged residents to attend the Montclair Public Library Board's next meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 28 in the main library's auditorium.

Fried has said that this year's property tax increase — about 6 percent when the school, municipal, and county increases are combined — is "a number that no one on the governing body is happy with." The municipal portion, about a quarter of the total tax, will have an increase over the previous year of around 10 percent. Of this number, only about 2 percent represents an increase in spending — mostly increases in pensions and health benefits with some contractual salary increases. He said that the rest of the increase is due to decreases in revenue sources.

For more on Montclair's financial bind, see this FAQ put together by Montclair Patch over the summer.