BRADLEY BEACH — Two hundred and forty days into the calendar year, the Bradley Beach borough council introduced the 2024 municipal budget on first reading at its Aug. 28 meeting. Councilman Al Gubitosi revealed that members of the council, aside from Mayor Larry Fox, have been fined $25 a day by the state Department of Consumer Affairs since July 19 for failure to introduce the budget.
After voting down the introduction of the municipal budget eight consecutive times since its original presentation on April 10, the council members approved the introduction of the budget in a 4-1 vote, with Council President Jane DeNoble casting the lone nay vote, at their most recent meeting on Aug. 28. According to Mayor Fox, the public hearing on the budget is set for Sept. 25.
The total municipal budget for 2024 is $11,144,558, up from the 2023 budget of $11,134,872.
The average residential assessment in Bradley Beach is $1,046,893, compared to last year’s $972,356. The borough’s total assessed valuation went up $162,650,400 this year.
According to the 2024 budget summary provided to The Coast Star, the estimated municipal tax rate for 2024 is 0.3997 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, down from 0.4150 in 2023, which equates to $3,859 of municipal taxes yearly for the average residence. When compared to the average increase of residential assessment from last year, the annual increase per average residence is $120.
The affirmative vote didn’t stop members of the council from continuing to criticize the proposed budget on the table, constructed by Mayor Fox and his administration, although he has faith in the introduced budget.
Mayor Fox told The Coast Star, “Is it a well constructed budget? I believe it’s a well constructed budget and I believe it should be adopted.”
Council President Jane DeNoble reflected on the process at the Aug. 28 meeting and stated, “I don’t think we started this (budget) process until March, and I was not included in any of these discussions. This has not been inclusive. This has not been teamwork. We’ve had some new developments and I do think next year looks brighter already, but this is not the way things should be run. It’s very, very disappointing.”
Before casting an affirmative vote to introduce the budget, Councilman Al Gubitosi stated, “I so much want to say no, but then I just keep getting stuck in my infinite loop that this never ends until we’re all dragged off in handcuffs. So, I’m going to vote yes and I’m going to be very prepared to have a very lengthy discussion in front of every resident that wants to participate.”
“It will be so much hard work to put together all the questions that we are going to have for the CFO (Chief Financial Officer), but I look forward to putting in that work,” Councilwoman Kristen Mahoney said before casting an affirmative introduction vote.
Throughout the budget process, Mayor Fox stated that CFO Richard Gartz would only meet with the council in a public forum at the adoption hearing of the budget, where he would answer questions regarding the proposed budget. Therefore, according to members of the council, passing the introduction to the budget is a means to get their questions surrounding the budget answered, something they have repeatedly raised issues with throughout the four-month budget process.
“I remind the public that the mayor has promised to make our CFO available to answer the council’s questions, but only at the budget adoption,” Councilman Gubitosi said at the Aug. 28 meeting. “Should we vote to introduce the budget, we will have an opportunity 30 days from now, if not sooner, to ask the CFO all of the questions in front of the public that we have been asking, and hopefully get responses. I’ve said this from the beginning, I don’t know if the budget is good or bad. I don’t know if it’s right or wrong because I’m not getting answers.”
Councilwoman Mahoney said, “We keep asking questions and we’re getting nowhere, but we were promised that we would get a chance to speak to the CFO and ask him our questions once we introduce the budget. As Councilman Gubitosi said, adopting this budget is the only way to get from where we are to where we need to be. That does not mean that we need to accept this budget in the end. It just means it might be our only way to speak to the employee that we hired.”
After approving the introduction of the budget with his vote, Councilman John Weber stated “I think there’s a really great chance that we could, after that meeting, we still vote no on this budget if the questions are not answered to our satisfaction. So if that’s not the case, but I think it’s a very real possibility.”
The budget will be presented on Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Bradley Beach Borough Hall. According to Mayor Fox, Gartz will attend to answer questions and conduct a presentation on the introduced budget.
COUNCIL MEMBERS FINED
It was revealed that the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has, since July 19, been fining each member of the borough council $25 a day — aside from Mayor Fox who has voted to pass the budget on each occasion — including on weekends, for voting down the introduction of the budget.
During the discussion portion of the budget resolution, Councilman Gubitosi stated, “As some of you are aware, we the council is being fined by the DCA. I was surprised to hear, Mr. Mayor, maybe you can confirm this… is it true that you are not being fined?”
In response, Mayor Fox said “Yes, that is correct. I voted favorably for the introduction each time. The failure to introduce with a vote is the basis of the fine.”
According to Councilman Gubitosi, fines totaled $1,000 per council member after New Jersey DCA Commissioner Jacquelyn Suárez notified each council member in a letter dated Aug. 23, of the implementation of the fines retroactive to July 19.
Councilman Gubitosi and Councilwoman Mahoney slammed Suárez and the DCA in statements that were read to the public at the Aug. 28 meeting.
“I’m sure that Ms. Suárez is a very talented commissioner; however, in this one instance she is simply wrong. It is wrong to implement sanctions against the very council people who are working long hours to honor our sworn oaths to represent and protect the public to the very best of our abilities,” said Councilman Gubitosi, “and what’s more ironic… that Mayor Fox – who needs council approval and yet refuses to cooperate with any of the council’s requests – is not subjected to this daily fine. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a prime example of bureaucratic failure in the state of New Jersey.”
Councilwoman Mahoney stated, “If the DCA would like to fine this very conscientious council for doing its best in the name of transparency, then so be it. I would suggest the DCA needs to change its guidelines on what’s expected from an administration made up of professionals paid to give us answers, before it imposes fines regarding what is expected from the people who volunteer to serve people.”
According to the letter that has been obtained by The Coast Star, Suárez stated that the fines would continue “until such date until the CF (calendar year) 2024 budget is introduced and approved by the borough council.”
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