Franklin Lakes Furloughs

By The Franklin Lakes Journal

Published: April 23, 2009

In response to the perceived unfairness detailed in the below argument, the borough is proposing across the board furloughs…read the UPDATE.
The Franklin Lakes town council provided a special platform to discuss the impending furloughs being planned in the borough. It was an opportunity afforded to both employees and residents to question the process, understand the rationale, and provide additional suggestions for cost saving measures.

The furloughs in Franklin Lakes will impact 26 full time employees and 7 part-time employees with a total savings to the borough of approximately $47,000 this year and $78,000 next year. The employees who spoke at the meeting questioned why those least able to afford a cut in salary, with many cuts ranging between $400-$600 a month, are being targeted. The top tier, such as the approximately twenty municipal employees making between $100,000 and $145,000 dollars annually, were not asked to shoulder any of the financial burden.

One of the first employees to speak immediately raised this issue by stating that the cost cutting furlough measures, “Start at the bottom and never reach the top”. Addressing the governing body, the employee questioned why a select group, some of the lowest paid workers, had been targeted, and across the board cost saving measures had not been implemented.

The question was put into play with Mayor DeNicola taking initial possession and quickly throwing it over to the Municipal Administrator Greg Hart. Mr. Hart quickly threw the question back to the Mayor, and the Mayor threw the question back to Mr. Hart. As Mr. Hart is an employee of the borough, it became evident that he would be required to step up to the line on answering the question: Why these specifically targeted employees?

Mr. Hart explained that due to collective bargaining agreements, and issues of public safety, the police department would suffer no furloughs except for the civilian dispatchers. Also exempt from furloughs were the Tax and Finance Departments, the Municipal Court, and himself, Borough Administrator. Mr. Hart went on to clarify that the decision to furlough was a Mayor and Council decision, and the Mayor further clarified that the governing body is not involved in day to day borough operations and rely on administrators to advise them.

How the council arrived at the decision to target the lowest paid workers when applying the forced furlough option was raised again later in the meeting. The council discussions, and apparent debate, were held in closed session, and the council was asked if they would be willing to publicly identify their stance on the forced furlough proposal. Closed session meetings are permitted under the NJ Sunshine Laws to allow governing bodies to discuss personnel and contract issues out of public view. It was deemed that the furlough debate fell into this category, and what happens in closed session, stays in closed session.

In addition to the apparent unfairness of the furloughing process, employees who spoke raised two additional arguments against the new policy. Many explained that municipal services would be impacted with fewer workers available to respond to resident requests. The second argument related back to the inherent unfairness of targeting the lowest wage-earners as worker after worker described financial situations where any substantial cut in pay would significantly impact their ability to pay bills.

Approximately 34% of the municipal employees are making between $60,000 and $145,000 a year, with about 26% making between $59,000 and $30,000 and the rest ranging between $29,000 and $3,000 dollars. The argument offered was that the upper end of the municipal pay scale was not shouldering a fair share of the burden, a point of discussion also raised in the state of Delaware where sliding-scale pay reductions are being explored with higher-salaried employees taking a larger hit to protect the income of lower-paid workers, some of whom are already eligible for food stamps because of low wages. In Franklin Lakes, the furloughed workers are looking at losing 2 days a month, or 24 days of pay being cut from their salaries.

The State of New Jersey, conscious of the same situation, declared in its Statement of Imminent Peril that furloughs should, “…be as equitable as possible in application so as to preserve jobs, minimize disruption in services, and ensure that the burden does not fall disproportionately on lower-paid positions.” This appeared to be the main contention of all the employees who spoke explaining that lower wage earners will have familial financials seriously impacted while the families of higher wage earners will not be affected.

The public session of the meeting also elicited some cost saving measures from the employees present. Significant savings, in the tens of thousands, could be realized by employing municipal resources in the areas of recycling services which are now outsourced. Specifically, it was suggested that the town replace a private contractor for scrap-metal and leaf pickup with DPW employees who can provide the same service. It was also suggested that the town inquire as to the ability of the library to share some of the financial burden by tapping into their independent budget to pay for municipal services. Libraries in the state of New Jersey are funded under an independent tax formula, and some municipalities implement what is known as a chargeback for services.

One issue raised after the public comment session was not well received by many in attendance. The Mayor and Borough Administrator expressed, at length, the cooperative nature of the budgetary discussions amongst the various departments and a process of open communication. This elicited murmurs from the audience, and additional off the record comments afterward, that there had been little communication. Many employees said that they were only informed of the municipal decisions by reading local news sources.

The municipal budget is scheduled for an open hearing in May. While not available online, it is available for review at borough hall.