No tax increase, no furloughs, and no cuts in services or programs. A public hearing was held Tuesday on the $357 million 2009 Ocean County Budget, which includes a $5.5 million dollar pension obligation to the state of New Jersey.
Freeholder Director John Bartlett says they were prepared to weather the economic storm during tough times and are fiscally responsible to make that payment. Bartlett says on the revenue side, the pension will be paid for using $1.5 million in pension reserve funds, $1 million from surplus, and $500,000 from the Ocean County Library for their share of the pension costs.
On the expense side of the budget, they reduced capital purchases by $2 million, and then went through the spending plan line by line shaving costs to reduce the total by half a million dollars.
Bartlett says it was difficult, but they worked together to make it happen with no added tax increase on the residents of Ocean County. He says, "It's been a long, hard process..they've cut back on overtime and they are expecting every department head to reduce expenses by 10 to 15 percent."
Freeholder Gerry Little adds, "It is a very conservative budget that cuts spending, one of the first times in the history of any county in the state of New Jersey, and continues to provide the services and programs that Ocean County residents expect."
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