newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Budget problems not seen in over 30 years have forced Newark Mayor Cory Booker to begin firing 15 percent of his police force today. The police union in Newark rejected cost-cutting proposals by the city last week, which said it would fire 167 rookie officers by today if it can't save the money in other places.

Among its negotiation points with the union, Newark asked cops to work five unpaid days and accept less overtime pay to close a $9.5 million budget gap.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the executive board of Newark's Fraternal Order of Police, which represents 1,000 officers, voted to reject the proposal and then issued a scathing three-page letter. It detailed the union's displeasure with Booker and accused city officials of not acting in good faith during negotiations.

The 167 police dismissals in Newark, New Jersey's largest city, come as Camden Mayor Dana Redd seeks approval to cut their police force by almost half.

Bloomberg.com reports that Paterson, New Jersey's third most-populous city, may boost the property-tax bill on a typical home to $6,819 from $3,896, information filed with the state's Division of Local Government Services shows.

Those municipalities, along with more affluent communities such as Howell in Monmouth County and Montclair in Essex County, are cutting jobs, raising taxes and reducing services after Governor Chris Christie cut state aid by $446 million, and property owners won millions of dollars in tax appeals on declining property values.

Cities such as Newark and Camden have no choice but to cut personnel costs, which make up the majority of their budgets, officials including Joseph Menza, part-time mayor of Hillside Township say. He said in Hillside, staff costs account for 70 percent of spending.

Paterson proposes to raise the local tax rate to $1.90 per $100 of assessed property value from $1.20, and to make government workers take 10 days off without pay to address a $70 million gap in the $251 million budget for the year that ends June 30.

The city of about 150,000 has refunded $6.6 million in successful tax appeals since 2009, and faces the potential of $10 million more in appeals losses, according to its application for special state aid.

In Camden, where about a third of residents live under the federal poverty level, according to U.S. Census data, pension payments on behalf of police, firefighters and city workers will total $17 million next year, almost as much as the $21 million the city expects to raise through property taxes.

NJ.com reports Booker had one final meeting with union president Derrick Hatcher Monday night, asking for small concessions that would have saved 10 officers' jobs, according to city spokeswoman Esmeralda Diaz Cameron, but the unions didn't budge.

The mayor said Monday he remains hopeful of striking a deal with the FOP that would bring some officers back after the midnight deadline.

Newark hasn't faced layoffs this large since 1978, when then-Mayor Kenneth Gibson eliminated 200 police jobs and the city suffered a spike in violent crime.