Checklist attracts concern
By John Zucal, Managing Editor
The mayors of Orange and East Orange expressed frustration at a checklist the governor is asking municipal officials to complete, a form which may affect the amount of state aid the cities could receive.
In an Aug. 25 letter to mayors, Lori Grifa, commissioner of the state Department of Community Affairs, provided a list of 88 questions which municipal officials must answer. The questions relate to a municipality’s management as well as its functions. Municipalities must answer “yes” to 76 questions in order to receive all of their projected state aid. The minimum they will get, if up to 15 affirmative responses are provided, is 95 percent of the expected aid.
Key topics the questionnaire addresses include shared services, personnel policies and contracts, as well as transparency issues. These include posting meeting agendas, proposed ordinances and budget projections on a municipal website.
Grifa said the survey will enable municipal officials to better plan and manage budgets if an effort to remain within the new 2-percent cap on property tax-rate increases. She added the Best Practices Initiative, as it is called, will be in addition to Gov. Chris Christie proposed “toolkit” of 33 proposals he said he believes will help local governments and school boards to control expenses.
The mayors of Orange and East Orange expressed frustration at a checklist the governor is asking municipal officials to complete, a form which may affect the amount of state aid the cities could receive.
In an Aug. 25 letter to mayors, Lori Grifa, commissioner of the state Department of Community Affairs, provided a list of 88 questions which municipal officials must answer. The questions relate to a municipality’s management as well as its functions. Municipalities must answer “yes” to 76 questions in order to receive all of their projected state aid. The minimum they will get, if up to 15 affirmative responses are provided, is 95 percent of the expected aid.
Key topics the questionnaire addresses include shared services, personnel policies and contracts, as well as transparency issues. These include posting meeting agendas, proposed ordinances and budget projections on a municipal website.
Grifa said the survey will enable municipal officials to better plan and manage budgets if an effort to remain within the new 2-percent cap on property tax-rate increases. She added the Best Practices Initiative, as it is called, will be in addition to Gov. Chris Christie proposed “toolkit” of 33 proposals he said he believes will help local governments and school boards to control expenses.
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