Atlantic Freeholder Candidates Call for More Transparent County Budget Process

For Immediate Release:                                                                     

Contact:

March 31, 2009                                                                                   Angelo DeMaio, 287-9607                                                                                                        John Devlin, 402-7891

                                                                                                            Sam Mento, 209-4994

 Freeholder Candidates Call for More Transparent County Budget Process

Democratic Candidates Believe a More Open Process Would Yield Greater Cost Savings and Efficiencies  

Northfield —Democratic freeholder candidates Angelo DeMaio, John Devlin, and Sam Mento today called upon Atlantic County to make the annual budget process more transparent for Atlantic County residents.  In addition, the candidates announced their plans for making that happen.   

“Today’s passage of an Atlantic County budget plan that reaches nearly $200 million and increases county spending by 3.5 percent does not go far enough in controlling spending and finding efficiencies for Atlantic County’s hard working taxpayers,” said Freeholder At Large candidate Angelo DeMaio.  “Unfortunately, most Atlantic County residents won’t know what hit them, since they have had little to no information about the spending plan.”  

“While today’s Freeholder meeting allowed for public comment, few people would even be in a position to offer specific comments or ask appropriate questions since the actual budget document has been locked up behind the doors of the Stillwater Building for the last 21 days,” stated Second Freeholder District candidate John Devlin.  "In fact, most working people cannot obtain a copy of the budget during normal business hours and the document can not be found online.  By the time they receive their property tax bills, they will be asking questions, but it will be far too late.”  

“If more people have an opportunity to study the budget, we believe the county would identify additional savings and efficiencies,” said Fifth District Freeholder candidate Sam Mento.  "The budget proposal is rarely changed after it has been introduced; this tells us that what few opportunities there are for public comment are not taken seriously.  The budget process should allow for more open dialogue between taxpayers and the county.”  

   The DeMaio, Devlin, and Mento plan for more transparency in the county’s budget process includes:  

1)                  Posting the budget on the county website as soon as      the document is presented by the county executive;  

2)                  Conducting at least three public hearings throughout the county to allow residents to ask questions and submit ideas for budget savings; and  

3)                  Requiring that the budget document include detailed descriptions of what the line items are intended to fund, so readers do not have to guess.  

  “This is the beginning of many constructive ideas that our ticket plans to offer,” said DeMaio.  “As we stated in our announcement, Atlantic County residents want fresh ideas and solutions to meet the challenges of today’s difficult economic times.”  

“Our plan for transparency in the budget process would allow for greater public input and exchange of ideas,” said Devlin.  “The taxpayers deserve to know that every effort is made to consider other potential cuts and ideas for stretching their money.”  

“Other counties have even gone to their employees who administer county programs to collect input on cost savings and efficiencies,” stated Mento.  “We should welcome the input of employees who intricately know the programs they oversee, as well as that of the general public and make this a prominent part of the budget process.”   

The 2009 County Budget was passed by a vote of 8 to 1.  The budget was officially introduced by the Atlantic County Freeholder Board on March 10, 2009.   

The Freeholder At Large position represents all 23 municipalities in Atlantic County.  The Second Freeholder District consists of Atlantic City’s Fifth and Sixth Wards, Ventnor, Margate, Longport, Somers Point, and a small portion of Egg Harbor Township.  The Fifth Freeholder District includes Buena Borough, Buena Vista Township, Corbin City, Egg Harbor City, Estell Manor, Folsom, parts of Hamilton Township, Hammonton, Mullica Township, and Weymouth .     

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