Council Receives News at South Amboy Business Meeting
By Joseph L. Kuchie
Business Administrator Camille Tooker
SOUTH AMBOY – Mayor Fred Henry announced a $1.3 Million surplus in South Amboy’s upcoming 2016 budget at last week’s business meeting.
“We will be putting some of that [surplus] back into the budget to so we can help the taxpayers this year,” Henry said. “There are no changes in [public] services, in fact in some areas we have actually added some things.”
“Every year our goal is to grow our surplus,” Business Administrator Camille Tooker said. “We’ve always tried to fund our budgets realistically and fiscally responsibly, which you as a council have been doing and that’s why we have surplus.”
Tooker explained that an increase in the city’s net worth and the addition of miscellaneous revenue not anticipated (MRNA) were also key factors in having such a big surplus. South Amboy’s net value increased from $857 million to $906 million this year, and the city received unanticipated funding from the government including over $200,000 from FEMA.
Mayor Fred Henry
Tooker echoed Mayor Henry’s comments by saying that the city’s public services will stay at the same level and improve in some areas.
“We have a budget which maintains public services at the same level,” Tooker said. “We will still have our summer recreation program for our residents…we are going to have GovPilot, which is increasing the public services.”
Other improvements will include the city’s ability hire a full-time mechanic to expedite repairs to city vehicles and equipment and an increase of funds to the city’s library.
“It’s good to have good news like we’ve had tonight dealing with the budget,” Mayor Henry said. There’s a lot of hard work that goes into this. It’s taken a couple of years but we are on the right track.”
Councilman Applegate was not in attendance for the business meeting. The next city council meeting will be held on March 16th at 7:00 p.m.
