As the Township Committee prepares to discuss the budget again Tuesday night -- specifically capital expenditures
-- Mayor Vic De Luca believes more cuts are coming, likely to the library and perhaps other departments.
But he says
the Hilton Branch will not be closed and any further cuts to the budget would be done with a broad-based approach.
"We
are pretty close to finishing," he said of the process that will include at least one more budget meeting, next Saturday
morning. "Tuesday night, we will look at the capital budget, some new revenue numbers and see if there is a need for
more layoffs and firming up contributions to the library."
Asked about the Hilton Branch, he said, "The Hilton
is not going to close. I view the library that you have one Maplewood library with two sections. We have that much demand."
TC
members last month rejected a request to boost the current $1.87 million library subsidy to $2.1 million, but initially sought
to keep the library potion at the same amount. On Sunday, De Luca said the library would likely see a 10% reduction. "I
think they are talking about making some budget cuts and looking at furloughs and hourly cutbacks."
The TC weeks
ago announced 17 township-wide layoffs, most in the public works department. They also plan to institute a summer Friday furlough
for all township employees, that would include a total of 12 unpaid days off during the three summer months.
At next
Saturday's budget meeting, TC members will address contributions to non-profit groups. Those include the Springfield Avenue
Partnership, Maplewood Village Alliance, Youthnet and the Community Coalition on Race. At this point, a 10% cut in fuinding
to those groups is in place, dropping the overall amount to about $90,000.
"I don't think it will go any furher
unless we feel that any one of them is not deserving of dollars," the mayor added. The proposed breakdown at the moment
is: $34,200 to the Coalition on Race; $22,500 to Youthnet; $13,500 to the Maplewood Village Alliance; and $19,800 to
the Springfield Avenue Partnership.
