Citizens Budget Advisory Committee Presentation

The Citizens Budget Advisory Committee presented the FY 2011 recommendations to the City Council on Monday, November 22, 2010.  The link to the presentation is below.  

http://www.scribd.com/full/43802081?access_key=key-a2iaegbv5ceaaj8v1si

CBAC Recommendations to Be Presented Monday, November 22

The CBAC will present their findings in a brief presentation this evening at the City Council meeting.  We will post our findings on this site after the presentation.  We hope all citizens will read the document and send your thoughts and ideas to the Administartion and  your council person. 

Remember, it is your money being spent.

CBAC Findings in Final Stages

The CBAC is documenting its final comments to be presented to the Council on November 22nd.  This is your last chance to send us your thoughts and ideas regarding the City budget.

The administration has acknowledged that we have sent them detailed questions, but at this time because of the budget deliberations and busy schedule, cannot answer them. 

We will post our findings after the November 22nd presentation.

Again, if you have any input to your budget, now is the time.

Remember, this is your money that is being spent.

Budget Questions Sent to Administration

Below is the letter with questions submitted to the Administration.  We will post the answers as we get them.

Dear Ms. Taylor and Council Members:

Attached is a document that includes questions from members of the Citizens’ Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC) and from city residents who have utilized the CBAC blog to submit their questions.

The Committee felt that it was important for the entire Council to have an opportunity to review these questions.  They are representative of CBAC members’ concern over the development of an annual expense budget that, without significant action by the City Administration and the City Council, will become unsustainable in future years. Resident questions echo this concern.

The document is organized into divisional categories. Questions from CBAC members are generally in response to recent  budget hearings attended by members but they also stem from hours of discussion in committee, research into comparative practices in other communities, reviews of documents obtained through numerous OPRA requests, and regular attendance at City Council meetings and budget hearings.  Questions from city residents are not confined to the various divisions that have already made their budget presentations. Resident questions pertain to city  services, practices, and the process for making  funding decisions as part of the annual budget process. Where possible, residents’ questions have also been organized under categories.

The Committee will rely again on the City Administrator for her usual concise and accurate replies to these questions. CBAC members will submit additional questions following upcoming budget hearings.

Thank you.

Regards,

Susan Kilduff

Chair, FY11 CBAC

CBAC Questions - http://www.scribd.com/doc/41592054/Budget-Questions

CBAC Successes

Some people believe that CBAC members are wasting their time and the Council will not listen to their recommencations.  While we have no authority, when the Council reviews the budget, they do listen to what the CBAC has suggested. We try to bring as many voices to the table as you will allow through your participation.  We have no agenda other than being taxpayers with a vested interested in the outcome of the budget. 

Here are some recommendations the CBAC made to the Council over the past two years which were implemented.  In many cases the ideas were not soley those of the CBAC, but mirrored those of the Council.  It was validation to the Council of the thoughts and wishes of the taxpayers.

 - Create quantifiable deparmental goals to measure success (The Council is asking all departments to present these measures in their 2011 budget deliberations)

-  Move Dudley House off  the tax role (Dudley House is no longer being paid for by taxpayers dollars.  It is being run by a non-profit)

- Continue the CBAC as a voice of the people (this is the third successive year the CBAC has been in place)

- Reduce 911 overtime (the city is moving toward putting civilians in the dispatch unit rather than using higher cost employees. This move will greatly reduce the overtime cost, which in turn will save the taxpayers money )

The CBAC wants to have as much input from you to relay to the Council.  The Council wants your input.  That is why it is important that you send us your questions. 

Remember, it's your money that is being spent.

Questions To Be Sent - Answers Posted When Received

We will be sending the Administration and Council our questions for this week on Friday afternoon.  Once sent, we will post the questions as well as the answers when received.

We welcome and encourage all questions. 

Bear in mind that the CBAC is an advisory committee only.  We have no decision making ability, however it is important to note that while Plainfield citizens may think this is pointless, many of our suggestions to the Council have been taken under advisement and implemented.  We will outline them tomorrow.

In the meantime, please send your questions to us.

Remember, it is your money that is being spent.

Wednesday - Thursday Budget Deliberations

The schedule for this week's budget deliberations are as follows:

Wednesday, November 3rd - 400 E. Front Street
Public Works and Recreation

Thursday, November 4th - 400 E. Front Street
Social Services (Plainfield Action Services - WIC - Bilingual Daycare), Health

We are submitting your questions, as well as the CBAC questions, to the Council and Administration this week.  You are welcome to submit questions regarding past as well as this week's or future deliberations.  We will post the answers when we receive them.

We also welcome any research or information that you have found pertaining to how other towns have cut their budgets, increased efficiency and revenue.

This is your money that is being spent.  Let your voice be heard.

Plainfield Budget Deliberations Schedule For This Week - Questions Please

On Wednesday, November 3rd, the Public Works and Recreation departments will give presentations regarding their departments. 

We have 4 comments at this time questioning the city budget, and they have been posted.  We will pass them on to the administration. 

Please feel free to send your comments about Public Works and Recreation, or any other department for which you require an answer. 

We will post answers to questions as soon as we get them. 

Questions for the Administration Requested

This past week, we finished deliberations for the Fire, Police, Inspections, Municipal Court and Corporation Council departments. 

The CBAC requests that you submit your questions for the above departments by Monday, November 1st, so we can combine the questions and submit them in an orderly way.  We have already received a question regarding the Fire department's repeated appearance at an apartment building.  We will incorporate that question to the others being submitted to the administration.

Please send comments and suggestions.  This is your opportunity to be heard.  

Budget Deliberations Schedule

The budget deliberations have started.  Last night, the Police and Fire Departments presented their budget needs to the council. 

The link below provides some statistical information regarding how each municipality ranks in terms of salary and crime, which you may find helpful.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/nj_assembly_to_chage_way_contr.html

You can view the complete schedule of when and where the budget deliberations will take place by going to the Council President's blog:

http://anniemcwilliams.blogspot.com/

(You may need to cut and paste the addresses in order to view the pages)

The next deliberations are:
Thursday, October 28th, 7:00 PM, City Hall Library
Inspections, Municipal Court, Corporation Counsel, Engineering

You can submit your questions for any of the departments through the "Comments" tab in this blog.
Please send your comments.

Contract Links Working

The links are now working. Be patient as it takes a few seconds for the document to load. As always, please send in your thoughts and comments.

Plainfield City Contracts

The City has seven collective bargaining units. The only active contract at this time is the PMMA. All other contracts have expired, however, the terms and conditions remain in effect pending a successor agreement. The collective bargaining agreements along with their effective dates are listed below:

Plainfield Municipal Managers Association
From -1/Jan/07
To -31/Dec/10

Plainfield Municipal Employees Association
From - 1/Jan/05
To - 31/Dec/09

United Service Workers ( Plainfield Public Works Employees)
From - 1/Jan/05
To - 31/Dec/09

Local 19 Policemen’s Benevolent Association (Police Officers)
From - 1/Jan/07
To - 31/Dec/09

Local 19 Policemen’s Benevolent Association (Superior Officers)
From - 1/Jan/07
To - 31/Dec/09

Firemen Mutual Benevolent Association (Rank and File)
From - 1/Jan/03
To - 31/Dec/09

Firemen Mutual Benevolent Association (Superior Officers)
From - 1/Jan/07
To -31/Dec/09

Below are the contracts we have so far.

Pba Superior Officers Contract 0709

FMBA Contract 0709

Fire Officers Association Contract 0709

Pba Rank and File Contract 0709

The CBAC encourages and welcomes your comments and suggestions.

Audit Reports and Findings

The CBAC is starting its review of the 2011 budget. As always, we hope that you, the good citizens of Plainfield, will make your voices heard. In the future we will be asking you questions, and posting updates. In the meantime, we are posting some background information for you to review.

The information is from Maria Pellum's blog, and we thank her for posting it.


Audit Corrective Action Plan 2009
http://www.scribd.com/doc/39330081/Plainfield-NJ-FY2009-City-s-Audit-Corrective-Action-Plan

Audit Report 2009
http://www.scribd.com/full/37958500?access_key=key-2cv4yw070o4dmkqnd4vq

Audit Report 2008
http://www.scribd.com/full/37958833?access_key=key-yqwata0ciymtrab04j9

Audit Report 2007
http://www.scribd.com/full/37958980?access_key=key-29c3x2c1zh0613g9sj8q

The CBAC Presentation for FY 2010

The Citizens Budget Advisory Committee made a presentation to City Council on February 8, 2010 for FY 2010. Below are links to that presentation.


http://www.scribd.com/doc/26696841/CBAC-2-8-10-Revised
http://www.scribd.com/doc/26793721/CBAC-Final-Word