Mayor and Council Pass Ordinance to Exceed 2 Percent Cap on Municipal Budget

The Mayor and Council introduced the 2013 Municipal budget at Monday's work session. Prior to the introduction, an ordinance was passed authorizing the Mayor and Council to exceed the municipal budget appropriations limits and to establish a cap bank.

Local governments can circumvent the 2.5 percent cap on municipal budget increases if an ordinance is adopted establishing a "cap" bank. The passage of the ordinance permits the governing body, in certain situations, to increase its budget in an amount not to exceed 3.5 percent of the preceding year’s appropriations level.

The law establishes that the cap can be exceeded without having to go to the public for a vote if a town needs to meet certain capital expenditures, including debt service, or if there is an increase in pension contributions or health care costs.

In order to meet the costs of the special and unanticipated capital projects included in the 2013 capital portion of the budget, the borough will need to exceed the 2 percent cap in order to fund the projects. Below is a breakdown of those capital expenditures.

The special projects, totaling $4,002,500, include:

• Hirschfeld Brook Flood Mitigation: $1.4 million
• NMFD Co. 1 Firehouse Renovation: $736,000
• NMFD Co. 2 Firehouse Renovation: $1,666,500
• NMPD Headquarters Design: $200,000

The on-going projects, totaling $371,000, include:

• DPW Curb Program: $25,000
• DPW Road Pavement Program: $200,000
• DPW Storm Drain Installations: $100,000
• NMFD Co. 1 Equipment Replacement: $23,000
• NMFD Co. 2 Equipment Replacement: $23,000

Unanticipated Capital Requests, totaling $331,600, include:

• Replacement of fence in DPW yard: $2,200
• Color Printer in Building Dpt: $1,000
• DPW Compactor Safety Rehab: $15,000
• DPW Dump Truck with Plow: $110,000
• DPW Guide Rail New Bridge Road: $8,000
• DPW Heaters for Garage: $33,000
• NMPD Ford Expedition with Tow Capacity: $45,000
• NMPD Pistol Range Safety Rehabilitation: $20,00
• NMPD Police Systems Server Replacement: $12,000
• NMPD Police Systems/Systems Upgrade: $34,000
• NMPL Replacement of Circulation Desk: $24,400
• NMREC Lighting Detection System: $27,000

Patch will be providing updates to the budget introduction.