Letter to the Editor: Democrats Are Ignoring Changing Revenue Landscapes in Holmdel

As an elected official, my two main concerns have always been fiscal responsibility and preserving the character of Holmdel. Being a responsible steward of people’s hard earned tax dollars is something I take very seriously. The township committee and I had to make the difficult decisions necessary to keep spending in Holmdel under control.

Holmdel, like many other towns, needs to balance land preservation and smart development, so that we can find a way to maintain the rural/suburban character of Holmdel while finding new ratables to offset the loss of revenue from the State.

Everyone wants to be in charge in good times, and being Mayor during the economic downturn has been a challenge to say the least, as there were decisions made that were agonizing for all of us. However, your governing body works hard every day to ensure we deliver the quality of life you deserve as residents of this beautiful town. None of us wants to raise taxes, and we all strive to make the decisions that we believe will only benefit our residents

In casually dismissing the changing revenue picture over the past several years, Karen Strickland and Patricia Mathis ignore – a number of items –open space tax for the third year in a row does not generate sufficient revenue to pay debt service on bonds used to acquire the open space. This year’s shortfall is $133,218 bringing a 3-year total to $533,876.

In just 2013, we lost over $156,000 of tax revenue by allowing Lucent to farm on its property. Although this practice goes back many years, just in the past four years we lost $604,000 that difference has come from homeowners. They also choose to ignore the significant staffing reductions made since 2010, the now mandated employee contribution to health insurance costs.

They also ignore the $617,449 increase in pension costs since 2009, which have been largely a result of State Fund shortfalls, not local salary actions. Most tellingly, they choose not to note that the 2013 operating budget is actually down from $ 21,329,273 to $20,607,848 over $700, 000 thousand dollars compared to 2012. Most of the budget increase in the 2013 budget is attributable to paying down high interest debt – we reduced our debt service from $3,689,851 to $2,408,061 very much an example of the long-term steps the democrats are missing.

Karen Strickland and Patricia Mathis completely misrepresent both the causes of our current financial situation and the actions the current administration is taking to address them. For too many years, Democrats borrowed and spent on ill-advised real estate purchases while simultaneously failing to attract and develop quality, compatible commercial, and retail businesses. As a result, Holmdel’s tax base is excessively dependent on residential properties. 

The current administration, in addition to ensuring that our operations are “right-sized,” (While the Democrats were in power, they increased our work force by double digits) is implementing a businesslike plan to achieve a greater tax balance, including redevelopment of the Lucent property and appropriate commercial and retail overlay, along the Route 35 corridor.

Ms Strickland and Ms. Mathis promise only a return of influence of the approaches that led Holmdel to its current challenges – shortsighted, blindly anti-business, and profligate. 

The tone of the recent article in the Holmdel Happening’s is reminiscent of the past political scare tactics and fear mongering that has become all too common with this side of the political aisle. They cheated us! They did this to us! How can we afford to stay in Holmdel! They tricked us!

Our goal is to pinch pennies, keep costs down, and maintain services for an excellent quality of living for all citizens in Holmdel. I would also like to put you all in notice that this is just the beginning of the political scare tactics. 

Please feel free to contact me or any of the Governing Body Members if you have any questions or comments about anything in town. You can call or email the Township Clerk, at 732-946-2820 ext. 1212 or info@holmdeltownship-nj.com.

And if I may remind you that you can verify any information I stated with the Township Clerk’s or our finance office. They are the keeper of the record and can quickly clear up any questions you may have.

I urge every resident to join me in supporting Deputy Mayor Eric Hinds and Committeeman Joseph Ponisi on Election Day November 5.

-Mayor Pat Impreveduto