Sunday, June 22, 2008

It's summer and Middletown still hasn't passed budget

Middletown: It's almost July and there's no budget. Should this reflect on the committee? How can it not? The budget should ave been passed in January. It's more than half-way through the year. This is incompetent.

Click on the headline and go to The Courier Online.

4 comments:

Art Gallagher said...

Middletown is not alone in this Jim.

Also, the budget they are working on it for the upcoming fiscal year, it is not a big deal that they are not done yet.

They should look for more savings, scrap the cell tower lease, and find out how much money they are getting from the state before passing the budget.

Downtowner said...

Art,

Putting together the Middletown Township Municipal Operatinig Budget is a serious thing. Missing a budget deadline by a few months -- OK. Not adopting a budget for almost seven months -- it's a big deal.

The most important thing that municipal officials are elected to do is not posturing, handing out fluffy proclamations or walking in parades. They are elected to safeguard money.

Art Gallagher said...

7 months? What are you talking about? What is Middletown's fiscal year end date?

Downtowner said...

Sorry, it was supposed to be approved in March, not January.

Still the same deal. And by the way, the department heads in Middletown spent their money as if they were going to get their ideal figures. Consequently, there has been NO fiscal controls in place consequent to this budget.

These folks didn't even cut back on subscriptioins or travel. It's a travesty. There is no sense of urgency here. Salary increases are going on at the library to the tune of 6.5%.

Under a budget crisis, the library gave budget increases. There is no idea of being fiscally prudent.