Will Da Manalapan Township Committee Balance Their Budget On Da Backs of Kids?

Following the response to our latest blog about the proposed 2010 Manalapan Township Committee budget, it seems that maybe we struck a raw nerve about how some things don't seem to be adding up - and it seems we were right again.

It was daTruthSquad that first explained how da state has cut $1 million dollars from Manalapan's municipal aid, and how despite that, da Manalapan proposed 2010 budget is over $300,000 more than last year's budget was. In addition, while other towns are cutting staff and even some services and people who work for taxpayers are taking pay cuts, there are absolutely no layoffs in this new 2010 budget, and no salary cuts of any kind to any worker in Manalapan Town Hall - and da tax rate is expected to go up despite mandates from Trenton, because plain and simple according to their own budget numbers da burden on Manalapan taxpayers for da local municipal budget is increasing by about $1.4 million dollars.

Those numbers are not in dispute.

Our embedded sources within da walls of Manalapan Town Hall however are hearing that da budget may become leaner - or will it - courtesy of smoke and mirrors.

DaTruthSquad was hearing a number of possible scenarios to cut da municipal budget, and every one of those scenarios revolves around da school budget voted down by Manalapan voters. We originally heard that da Manalapan Township Committee was crunching their numbers, and were expected to cut anywhere from $800,000 dollars to $1.5 million dollars from da school budget that has already been pared down, with one person on da committee wanting what amounted to "draconian" cuts.

Of course, that sounds like a good thing, but that's where da smoke and mirrors come in.

Now, one might think that this is a job for "fiscal conservatives." However, what seems to be happening here is you have one budget - da Manalapan Township budget, that will be higher in 2010 than it was in 2009, with no layoffs and no staff reductions or salary or pension cuts of any kind. Then you have their new job - cutting da school budget. Simply put, in order for da Manalapan Township Committee to get their own budget across da finish line with no cuts whatsoever, they would have to trim about $1.4 million from da Manalapan-Englishtown school budget to achieve their goal.

Guess what happened?

Manalapan Township Committee "fiscal conservatives" Queen & Andy Boy have put together a school board budgetthat cuts -- and get this -- $1.4 million from da school budget! They couldn't cut a dime from their own budget, but they certainly could take a few erasers and pencils away from a few teachers -- and a few teachers too. With this now being da case, what will da cause and effect be for Manalapan's kids in our public schools?

Already, our school friends are saying a number of teaching positions are being cut, and this was prior to da Manalapan Township "fiscal conservatives" carving up da school budget.

Now that da Andy-Boy led Manalapan Township Committee has agreed to cut $1.4 million dollars from da school budget, is anyone surprised that da $1.4 million dollar figure is pretty much an exact match for da dollar figure that da overall tax burden on municipal tax payers went up from 2009 to 2010?

What this means is, da money lost when da state cut Manalapan aid, and da added number from last year to this year's budget is ECAXTLY what da Manalapan Township Committee cut from da school budget!

This means, no job cuts in Town Hall, no pay cuts in Town Hall. In order to not have cuts in Town Hall, da school budget has been decimated!

Now, it's important to note something TruthTeller Joe "Joey D" DePasquale noted when he told the Asbury Park Press newspaper that it never even had to go this far. He said "the bulk of the cuts could have been avoided if the Manalapan-Englishtown Education Association had agreed to a wage freeze, as other bargaining units in the district had. The freeze would have amounted to a $1.2 million savings, district officials said."

Maybe TruthTeller "Joey D" would make a good Manalapan Township Committeeman?

What is even more interesting was da Queen's "No' vote on da Manalapan-Englishtown school budget. Apparently she voted "No" not because of da budget cuts, but because they weren't big enough cuts!

This could be interpreted as either:

1. Da Queen may be more of a "fiscal conservative" than we gave her credit for.

2. Da Queen may be more of a "fiscal conservative" than her GOP'er mayor Andy Boy.

3. As a Democrat, da Queen may have turned her back completely on her political base.

4. Maybe this was Queenly revenge for not getting da endorsement of da NJEA during her failed State Assembly campaign - - one of only two districts da NJEA didn't even give an endorsement to!

DaTruth is, while daTruthSquad is happy that da Township Committee did what it was supposed to do and cut da budget, da bad news here is it wasn't da budget they should have been cutting. They cut da school budget in an effort to soften da blow of da fact they couldn't properly cut their own bloated budget. Da bottom line - da local tax burden went up for Manalapan taxpayers with no appreciable cuts to Manalapan Town Hall at all - no salary cuts - no benefit cuts - no layoffs - not even a moratorium on pencils or pens!

What this amounts to, using $1.4 million dollars in cuts to da school budget to plug a $1.4 million dollar tax burden increase, is simply a one-time gimic to balance their own bloated budget - something we, as a state, hired Chris Christie to stop on da state level.

Why no cuts to staff in Town Hall? Why no infrastructure cuts? How much money has been or will be spent on lawyers for da "legal malpractice" case that was started against both da Mosked Man and now da defamation case by Manalapan Police Chief Stu Brown?

Or this famous precedent-setting First Amendment case?

Will they every really tells us?

Ironically, da Manalapan Township Committee overwhelmingy and unanimously approved to support a $4.5 million dollar cut to the Freehold Regional High School District budget. All well and good, but Dr/Mr/Lord Wasser is still superintendanting a salary of over $200,000 dollars!

DaTruth is, as a GOP'er you should have expected more from Mayor Andy Boy for not making cuts to his own budget before he tinkered with someone elses. It's easy to take from someone else, but when you can't cut your own budget, that shows a lack of leadership and residents should expect more. By cutting da budget of da kids and teachers and not your own, you show you are not a friend of da schools. You don't have to be a friend of da unions, but da teachers are a totally different matter, and this school budget cut to save your own budget will only harm da teachers and da kids - and nobody else. By not cutting your own budget, you show you're not a "fiscal conservative" like da Queen claims she is.

We think it will be interesting how many teachers will be filing for unemployment before July 1, while it appears at first glance that not one Manalapan Town Hall employee will apparently even lose one thin dime from their salaries. That could make for a very interesting November.

And that's daTruth.