April 3 Program: "State of the Borough and Goals and Objectives for 2012" by Bob Falzarano, Chatham Borough Administrator

Chatham Borough Administrator Bob Falzarano spoke on “State of the Borough and Goals and Objectives for 2012”.  In the photo, Kiwanis President Mary Anne Maloney presented Bob with the complementary “Kiwanis Pen” at the end of his very interesting presentation.  Borough Council member Len Resto attended the meeting and shared his insight about Chatham Borough.

Bob manages the overall planning process. He creates goals and objectives as part of the Borough’s annual planning process. Goals are quantifiable and they include detailed objectives and timelines. At the end of each year, there is an annual report showing achievements in meeting the goals and objectives. Click here to view the annual reports by category for 2011.

The Borough has a Mission Statement (click here to view the mission on the town’s website).

Bob mentioned that Chatham High School volunteers are updating the historic preservation property inventory.

The budget for 2012 was presented and discussed in detail. Revenues have been going down due in part to tax appeals. Also revenue from water, sewer and other fees are going down. To offset this, expenses are being reduced by sharing more services with neighboring towns. Efficiency has also been achieved through good planning. Through this difficult economic time, service level to residents is being maintained at a high level. Click here to view the 2012 budget on the Borough website.

An ongoing issue for the Borough is that they collect property taxes and give a fixed amount to the School District and the County. When tax collections fall off, the Borough must make up the money through a reserve for uncollected taxes.

Some money, $30,000, will be received from PSE&G due to the “monopole project” to upgrade their power lines and towers. The payment is based on a settlement agreement with all affected municipalities.  This is one-time revenue.  The monopole project also has a small effect on the Community Garden.

A key Financial & Administrative Goal is to develop a long range strategic plan for economic stability. One item under study is to grow revenue by adding parking spaces at the train station.

As part of shared services, Police Dispatch was moved to the County and that saved the Borough a huge amount of money. Improved local service for things like last year’s October snowstorm will be handled by a relocated communications center. 

A dog park is being studied and this year the town will try to find a location for it.

Bob acknowledged the many staff workers and volunteers who get things done in the Borough. At the close of his talk, he thanked Kiwanis for inviting him and then everyone in the audience applauded the interesting and helpful presentation.