Dear Neighbors,

Welcome to the latest edition of the Mount Laurel First E-News letter.

If you have news that you think should be included in my next E-News letter, please send me the information at JimKeenan@MountLaurelFirst.com
Remember that this E-News letter is dedicated to Mount Laurel news.


Township Council:  On Monday, April 5th - Council introduced it's budget for 2010.  The budget calls for a 15 cent tax increase (around $210 for the average home assessed at $144,000) and was introduced in order to comply with existing State rules for municipalities to apply for additional aid from the State.  The State has not informed the township whether or not it would be able to receive said aid, if and or when it becomes available but Council felt it should meet the requirements as they have been written.  Anything less may have guaranteed that the township would not be able to seek this avenue to relieve the tax burden on its residents.  The budget is set for adoption and public hearing on Monday, May 17th but could be postponed to a later date, if need be.  The township council is waiting to hear from the Manager on what concessions the various township unions are willing to make to help reduce our overall expenditures for this year.  She informed council that she met with all of the union representatives on Wednesday, April 7^th and that within two days; one of the unions came back with some concession ideas.  She has not informed council on what suggestions they have offered and if she felt that they were sufficient or not.  She is waiting to hear from all of the unions before she tells council what cuts in our anticipated expenses are being offered.  The Council and Manager are asking for concessions that are long term and can set the township on a course to control spending and keep it in line with the revenues it receives.  Council is not seeking to raise taxes just to keep the status quo.  We need to change the way the township operates in order to be able to adjust to the revenues we expect to receive.  The Township cannot operate in a deficit.  It must adopt a balanced budget and has introduced the 15 cent tax increase to comply with a State regulation in order to seek all available funds that may be offered.  Council is not relying on the State to help us with offsetting the 10.32 cents that are above cap (the top tax increase allowed by the State which is 4.68 cents) but we do not know what rules they may or may not adopt so Council wanted to be in line to receive any funds that may be made available.  We need the help of the employees. 
It is impossible to ask the residents to continually dig deeper into their pocket to help sustain a growing burden of expenses; expenses which are mainly tied to salary and wages but also include increases in operating costs similar to what the residents see at home (fuel costs, insurance costs, telephone costs, etc.).  The Township has also received a decrease in taxable value in the amount of $26 million from 2009, along with an unprecedented large number of tax appeals filed mostly by large commercial property owners in town.  Last year Council implemented a furlough plan and it was hoped that the additional money saved would assist the township to build up its reserves but after following the State guidelines, which required the township to submit a furlough plan to the civil service, we were only able to have two furlough days in 2009 and 6 in 2010, allowing us to receive a savings of around $22,000 per day.  We needed more for 2009 than the $44,000 and we now see that 2010 will need much more than the $132,000 that we expect to receive from the furlough plan previously approved by the State.  The furlough days exclude our Police and EMS employees. 
Recently, the Manager has filed a layoff and furlough plan with the State Civil Service but may have to wait the full 30 day review time prior to knowing if her plan is acceptable by them and then the Township would have to wait another 75 days before they could implement the plan.  The Union representatives know of this plan and how it would affect its members.  They have been asked to provide alternatives to the layoff and furlough plan equal to the need to reduce the anticipated costs for this current year and the years to come.  They are also asked to present any revenue producing ideas that would help alleviate the need for layoffs or furloughs.

Green Expo:  On Tuesday, April 20^th the Mount Laurel Township Green Team will be hosting its first Green Expo 2010 at the Mount Laurel Senior/Meeting Center.  This free event is open to the public and runs from 3-8pm.  Exhibits include alternative solar and wind energy contractors, hybrid/electric cars, low energy lighting, recycling, composting, paper shredding, and more.  In addition, local and state governments and utilities will provide information about their green programs. Expo attendees will receive free low-energy CFL bulbs, have a free personal document shredding (limited to 2 boxes per person - Mount Laurel residents only).  Exhibits will include money-saving  information and tips.
The Expo is sponsored by the Township to promote sustainable practices.  This event is part of the township’s efforts towards New Jersey sustainable certification.
One goal of the Expo is to encourage public involvement in making the community greener and more sustainable.  Interested residents can sign up to get involved and help shape Mount Laurel’s future sustainability efforts.

Fleetwood Football and Cheer:  Will be holding registration on Friday, April 23, 2010 - 6:30-8pm and on Saturday, April 24, 2010 - 10am-1pm at the Hartford School cafeteria.  Please see my "Links" page for contact information for the club.

Do NOT Forget to Vote:  Annual School Board Elections will be held on Tuesday, April 20, 2010.  The budgets for the Mount Laurel Schools and the Lenape Regional High Schools are on the ballot.  Please Vote.

Nixle in Mount Laurel:  The Township has joined the Nixle Community.  Nixle is a Community Information Service dedicated to helping you stay connected to the information that matters most to you.  It is FREE to join. Just go to www.nixle.com and register for email or text messaging notifications when the township posts alerts to Nixle for broadcast to members in the Mount Laurel community.  The township currently will post messages from the Mount Laurel Office of Emergency Management and will post soon, alerts from the Police Department and the Manager's Office.  For answers to some of your questions, go to: http://www.nixle.com/consumer_faqs.html
Please help make this service a success for Mount Laurel.  Tell your friends and neighbors to join.  This is another way to stay connected to Mount Laurel and learn quickly what is going on.

Report Graffiti:  The township is committed to cleaning up any graffiti around town, so please let me know if you see any.  To report graffiti in Mount Laurel simply click on this link: Report Graffiti and tell me the location and the cross streets nearby.  If the link above does not work, simply email me at my Council email address of JimKeenan08054@gmail.com and put the word "Graffiti" in the subject line and I will forward your report to the Township Manager to alert the proper departments to note the incident and then remove it from Mount Laurel.

Report a Pothole:  To report a pothole in Mount Laurel simply click on this link; Report a Pothole and tell me the name of the street that the pothole is located on and the closest intersection.  If the link does not work, simply email me at my Council email address of JimKeenan08054@gmail.com and put the word "Pothole" in the subject line and I will forward your report to the Township Manager to alert the Public Works Department.  Thank you for your assistance in this matter. 
 

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,