Just some of the ideas we have been hearing from taxpayers on how to reduce spending and cut taxes.
1. Change by-laws to institute zero-based budgeting 2. Create online “public ledger” that details monthly reconciliation 3. Reduce Health Insurance Costs 4. All employees should work a minimum of forty hours during the work week 5. Promote water conservation 6. End Garbage sticker program 7. Add solar panels to offset cost of heating and air conditioning 8. Merge Courts – seek to work with neighboring municipalities 9. Make Borough facilities energy efficient 10. Reduce Vehicle Maintenance costs 11. Reduce Incoming Pension/Retirement costs 12. Create online Taxpaying ability 13. Create online construction code forms 14. No re-imbursement for Atlantic City hotel rooms, unless pre-approved by the Council 15. Create town Budget – Like you were running a business 16. Create month-to-month budgeting detailing revenues/expenditures 17. Set quarterly budget goals for department heads to meet 18. Mandate quarterly department head budget meetings 19. Create monthly finance report to the Borough 20. Hold monthly finance meetings – that will be open to the public 21. Create yearly (cash) operations strategy for 1-5 years 22. Create yearly (capital) long-term strategy for 1-5 years for items such as public improvements, roads, sewers, borough facilities, etc. 23. Add copayments to ensure public employees are on-par with private sector 24. Seek health insurance broker to pool our employees with a larger health insurance pool to reduce costs 25. Merge health insurance with school, other municipalities, or Health (Joint Insurance Funds) JIFs 26. Change new hires benefits/restrict lifetime health benefits at retirement 27. Create policy on hours for a work week 28. All overtime should be pre-approved 29. Overtime mandates should be removed from collective bargaining agreements where possible 30. Outside employment assignments should not jeopardize safety 31. Outside employment assignments should provide better reimbursement benefit to the borough 32. Over usage of police services to bars, night clubs, response to alarms, calls for service shall be charged to end user 33. Over usage of fire/rescue services to bars, night clubs, response to alarms, calls for service shall be charged to end user 34. Change General Liability Insurance to reduce costs: 35. Compare general insurance costs between Middlesex Joint Insurance Fund (JIF) and Somerset JIF 36. Explore joining regional or multi-county JIF 37. Reduce Sewer Costs 38. Assess additional charges to Bridgewater to match our yearly increases from the Middlesex County Utilities Authority 39. Continue work on water Infiltration into the sewer system 40. Hold seminar with largest end-users of water – dry cleaning, restaurants, Laundromats, etc. 41. Garbage & Trash 42. Consider change to sticker system to allow residents to deduct refuse fees from taxes 43. Enforce per sticker/per can rule for all garbage 44. Engage other municipalities to become service provider – collect revenue for service 45. Engage other municipalities to merge garbage collection if it provides a positive return to Bound Brook?? 46. Create garbage Nuisance Ticket section in ordinance 47. Capitalize on Borough Garage 48. Enter shared service agreements on Borough Garage to receive rental revenue 49. Allow outside entities to do maintenance/cleaning in garage 50. Add motion sensors to all electric equipment in garage 51. Add motion sensors to all lighting in garage 52. Change lighting system to reduce energy consumption 53. Convert heating from electric to gas 54. Install proper insulation in Borough facilities 55. Install solar panels where appropriate 56. Install energy efficient windows to reduce energy consumption 57. Install motion sensors for all lights 58. Parking Meters/parking revenue 59. Verify that parking meters are only equipped to collect quarters to match ordinance 60. Install parking meters to match placement in the ordinance 61. Offer commuters opportunity to purchase weekly/monthly passes at machine 62. Shared Service opportunities: 63. Merge administrative functions – seek to work with neighboring municipalities 64. Merge Construction office – seek to work with neighboring municipalities 65. Merge Code Enforcement – seek to offer service to neighboring municipalities 66. Auction of surplus vehicles (E-bay or Govdeals.com) 67. Trucks that are outdated or unneeded 68. Equipment that is outdated or unneeded 69. Reduce gas consumption/vehicle usage 70. No idle rule for public works vehicles 71. No idle rule for police vehicles (where appropriate) 72. No idle rule for code enforcement vehicles 73. No idle rule for parking enforcement vehicles 74. Only Administrator/Chief of Police authorize use of vehicles 75. Only administrator can authorize re-imbursement of mileage 76. Consider other/larger purchasing coops for gasoline/diesel 77. Street lights: 78. Work with PSEG to create more efficient timing of lights 79. Work with PSEG to move lighting to low energy or LED lights 80. Seek to bid truck and auto maintenance as a contract at the beginning of the year 81. Bulk purchase of auto and truck supplies/equipment 82. Phone usage – cancel unused accounts 83. Cell phone 84. Land Lines 85. Move lines to voice over internet 86. Assess cable/internet usage cost 87. Bundle existing packages 88. Push to receive mandated “free” lines from Cable company 89. Push to receive mandated “free” lines from Phone company 90. Add wi-fi and broadband if more cost efficient 91. Change pension policies for all new employees 92. Create policy on multiple job/pension multipliers 93. Reduce Professional Service Fees: 94. Cap engineering fees in Budget 95. Cap legal fees in Budget 96. Cap fees for bonding services 97. Cap fees for prosecutorial services 98. Court Fees: 99. Increase mandatory minimums on quality of life charges 100. Create online pay opportunity for violations 101. Harness Information Technology 102. Merge all individual IT contracts to one IT contract and bid out service contract in beginning of the year. 103. Merge IT functions with other municipality or county 104. Harness cost savings in “paperless environment.” 105. Add PDF/electronic versions to all incoming Faxes 106. Force professional vendors to go paperless/unless they must have a “signed copy.” 107. Create virtual documents center for employees and public officials 108. Create online dog/cat license forms 109. Create online marriage/death certificates forms 110. Create online planning board application 111. Create online escrow pay 112. Municipal Officials – Public service/not public profit 113. All meetings by staff and elected officials must have a cost must be pre-approved by Council 114. Information obtained at all meetings should be reported upon at a public meeting
Only 2 Candidates Are Talking About Taxes.
