BY TINA PAPPAS

The Township Council unanimously adopted the 2021 municipal budget during its April 23 meeting. The total operating budget expense of $20,281,158 has a slight increase of $34,163 from the prior year’s amount of $20,246,995. 

Mayor James Damiano, who formally introduced the spending plan a month earlier, said the pandemic has had an impact on this year’s budget.  

“This is a tight budget year for us, especially on the heels of a very tough economic year not only in Little Falls but the surrounding municipalities,” he explained.

Among the line items Damiano highlighted was the anticipated surplus of $1,405,400 for the 2021 budget with $1,439,529 remaining in surplus. Library taxes are $566,172 for 2021.

This year’s spending plan has residents sustaining a $81 increase in municipal taxes this year for the property assessed at the township average of $313,000, with residents paying $2,799 annually. Last year, the property assessment was at $310,235 with residents paying $2,692 in municipal taxes annually.

“The municipal portion of your taxes make up about one quarter, the schools make up about 50 percent, the county makes up about the other 25 percent, with a very small fraction of that going to Open Space and the library,” Damiano had said when he first introduced this year’s budget at the March 22 Township Council meeting.

Under budget highlights, administrative salaries have been set to reflect a 2.50 percent salary increase. The Public Employees Retirement System cost reflects the cost per employee $7,339,76. Additionally, there are no changes in administrative positions in the spending plan.

Other budget highlights include police collective bargaining increases incorporated into the 2021 budget at a 2.7 percent increase in salary, with police and fire costs reflecting costs per officer at $38,831.37.  Damiano spoke of the Vehicle Acquisition Program for police, which will continue in this year’s spending plan with the purchase of two new police cars this year. He emphasized that the program was an efficient way to keep costs from increasing in any single year.

“This has been something that has been continuing since I’ve been mayor here in town,” Damiano said. “I believe that by purchasing two vehicles per year every single year there will never be a major blow to the budget, where some municipalities will purchase no cars for a number of years and then purchase six or eight at once. That ends up becoming a major cost to those municipalities, so we look to keep that to a minimum impact to the taxpayer by continuing this program.”

Additional highlights include EMS program costs budgeted at $393,401 with offsetting revenue of $409,532. 

“While you only see an approximate $15,000 swing in the revenue that EMS is generating, we do hope that with our continued shared services in Elmwood Park and our continued program here in Little Falls, we’ll continue to see even greater margins,” Damiano noted. 

He also touted the Shared Service arrangement between the Township and the Borough of Elmwood Park to provide EMS services to that community. The expense of $346,000 is offset by revenues from Elmwood Park of $363,560. 

“So we are generating revenue from that program as well, and again we hope that those margins will become even better,” he noted.  

Damiano also said that the EMS service costs roughly $4,000 per year to run the program and hopes the number will eventually become “a net positive number” for the Township. Damiano explained why there was no prior cost to run the program, which used to be a volunteer program.

“Keep in mind that we used to be a full volunteer service here in Little Falls, with response times that were much longer than they are now,” he said, adding that it is now a full-time, 24-hour,s-a-day, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year ambulance service with response times that average less than five minutes. 

He also stressed that there would be no out-of-pocket expense to residents incurred if they use the ambulance in town.

“If you are having a medical emergency, do not fear calling 9-1-1, or our police or fire dispatch to get an ambulance to you in order to get to the hospital because you will not receive an out-of-pocket expense for that,” Damiano said, adding that the municipality will simply get whatever the insurance covers for that particular ride. 

“It’s great news for us to have this incredible service here in town at essentially no cost.”.