The Paper Budget
Once again the budget is in the hands of the Board of Chosen Freeholders for approval. The process that the County of Union uses to prepare its budget is flawed. On paper the stages may be done in the proper order but it lacks the substance that would make it legitimate.
The beginning of the problem is the County Manager. He is responsible for preparing the executive budget and presenting it to the Freeholders. For the past three years he has fumbled through the process missing virtually every projection he initiated. It is hard to judge if the projections were so off because of incompetence or if they were finessed to paint a rosy picture to the public. It is easy to believe that they were just miscalculated since the County Manager, George Devanney, had no experience in budgeting or management before he took the post. Referring back to the control that the Democratic Party has on county government it should come as no shock that Devanney has the post. He is the nephew of State Senator Raymond Lesniak the controlling power behind the Union County Democratic Committee.
The theory continues that the budget is not actually prepared by Devanney but he is just the figurehead who signs it. By the way he earns is in excess of $140,000 for doing so. His wife is also on the payroll for close to six figures and they both get full benefits and cars, gas, trips etc. It is not a bad gig for someone with a four year degree and no credentials.
This should not be mistaken as a personal attack. This is an attack on a system that would allow this to happen. You can't blame Devanney for accepting the money and the position. His uncle is his mentor. He was raised in an environment where he probably doesn't think there is anything wrong with over taxing the people for personal gain or abusing the public's trust.
The question remains as to who prepared this budget and how. More importantly is why? Well the why is easy the budget is structured to sap as much money out of the taxpayers without triggering a revolt. Over the past four years the county property tax has gone up over 40%. This happened while the surplus was depleted and our county debt ballooned. The worst aspect of the budget is that the county has cut services while increasing the payroll for management.
The workers didn't fare as well as management. Their raises were not only stifled but they were being asked to take unpaid furloughs, early retirement and unpaid vacations. There was a correlation between what the employee gave in time and how they were treated during evaluation. They did have a simple solution to guarantee a raise and promotion and that was to donate to the Democratic campaigns. The going figure was $250 to be part of the elite inner circle.
The salary line items on the budget dominate each page. What the line item doesn't explain is that the bulk of the salaries is earned by a few on the top of the food chain. Not to mention the slew of fringe employees with obscure titles and whose whereabouts are elusive. These are the hundreds of employees that swell the ranks every year even though there has been a hiring freeze for all other applicants.
So what explanation did the county give for taxes to go from $150 million in 2000 to over $200 million in 2004? Well they didn't give one. Last year Devanney cited the increase in health insurance. That did account for $4 million but he raised our taxes $17 million. No excuse me it was $17.5 million. Two minutes before the budget was approved an additional $500,000 was added to the tax levy. No discussion, no debate, no public comment.
No public comment is a big issue. During the Freeholder meetings the board is adamant about not answering questions. They say it is a public comment portion of the meeting and that they don't have to answer questions. If a critic of the budget doesn't attend the budget hearings the Freeholders will shoot back at them that they did not attend the meetings so how could they criticize. But the Freeholders fail to mention that there is no public comment portion at those meetings. The fact of the matter is that the public's opinion is not only not considered it is seldom heard.
There is little that the public can do stop the budget process. The all nine Democratic Freeholder Board will approve what ever Uncle Ray tells them to and the people will be paying more and more. This cycle of corruption must end. The Freeholders must be voted out.
Thank you,
Joe Renna