By GARRETT STASSE
The budget crunch that worried Tinton Falls officials for months is spreading to quality of life issues.
On Tuesday the Borough Council adopted the 2008 spending package, which calls for appropriations of $20,901,804, compared to $19,916,088 in 2007. The amount to be raised through taxation is $10,317,640 this year, up from $9,663,618 a year ago. The utility departments proposed budget would be $4,923,051, compared to $4,960,850 last year.
Stacy Slowinski, chairwoman of the borough Historical Commission and a driving force behind the Crawford Houses resurrection, asked council to apply for a $250,000 state Historic Trust grant to complete a list of needs and desires to make the property, one of the lynchpins of the historic district, fully functional.
The nearly 300-year-old house needs a roof, interior work, parking, utilities and other items, she said.
If approved, the grant would require the borough fund half the amount from the Open Space Trust Fund, the municipal tax used to buy open space. Council introduced two ordinances to buy 2040 Wayside Rd. and 246 Hockhockson Rd. The former would cost $575,000, and the latter $525,000.
Council didnt say how the properties would be used.
Slowinski said $500,000 would be enough to transform the house into the centerpiece of the boroughs trail system, house a museum, provide meeting space for three volunteer organizations and other uses. For now, they are seeking to use half of that money to open the house for public use, Slowinski said.
The borough received a $100,000 state grant in 2004 to stabilize the building.
She asked that the boroughs portion of the matching grant be taken from the Open Space Trust Fund. Chief Financial Officer Stephen Pfeffer said he would see how much of the fund could be used, then noted, There are other applications pending.
The $125,000 could be bonded, he said, and that raised Councilman Gary Baldwins concerns.
Saying he is all for the project, he raised concerns about debt and the possibility and deep spending cuts in coming years. The $30,000 Slowinski said was needed to repair the roof, framing and all, Baldwin said he could support.
Im worried about spending on non-essentials….Theres going to be tough sledding (when the state-mandated 4-percent spending cap begins to bite in two years). A lot of people are going to be up here saying, Dont cut me, dont cut me.
Councilman Paul Ford said there would be no service cuts this year. But the crunch could come in two years and council could face possible service and employee cuts or taxes would rise. He said he was also concerned that money spent on non-core items today might impact future spending decisions.
I think the project is well deserved but the timing stinks, he said. I have no problem supporting it, but were going to have to consider the taxpayers.
Councilman Brendan Tobin said the Pop Warner organization raised a tremendous amount of money through private donations to improve their facilities, and questioned some spending proposals Slowinski had mentioned.
She replied that the football field was used eight weekends a year, but Crawford House would be a year-round facility for school children, volunteer groups and residents.
Were going to get a lot of bang for the money, she said. We found $200,000 you didnt have to put up. The money is needed to make the house vital and alive.
Friends of Crawford House, a recently formed group, would begin fund-raising, she said.
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