Petition in Byram challenged by township attorney

BYRAM — A coalition of five Byram residents have succeeded in getting 25 percent of Byram residents who voted in the last election to sign a petition under New Jersey's Faulkner Act that would put a higher budget-cap limit increase to a public vote. The petition seeks to repeal Byram ordinance 1-2012 To Exceed the Municipal Budget Appropriations Limits and to Establish a Cap Bank. The Faulkner Act allows ordinances to be introduced directly by the residents of a municipality provided they get a certain amount of signatures. However, in a letter to the board, township attorney Tom Collins said the increased spending ordinance isn't subject to repeal through a Faulkner Act referendum. "It is our opinion that the special election should not be scheduled because the subject matter of the ordinance dictates that it is not subject to repeal by the referendum process and a referendum is not authorized by state statutes for this type of ordinance," wrote Collins in the letter. In response, the coalition of Byram residents sent a letter to township clerk Doris Flynn calling Collins' letter a "direct attempt to prejudice a Faulkner Act referendum petition process." The letter to Flynn claimed that Collins' letter to the board should have been submitted to a judge and urged Flynn to continue the referendum process. Roseff said that the coalition had legal experts review the petition and they're confident that it was filed in accordance with state law. The petition was prompted by what some see as a pattern of unnecessary spending in the township. State budget law says that if a municipality seeks to break the budget-cap mandate - this year at 2.5 percent of the prior year's budget - that they automatically have to go to 3.5 percent. For the past decade, Byram has passed an ordinance that allows it to exceed the state-mandated budget cap. This year, the ordinance was passed by a slim one-vote margin. The township's rationale for the increased spending ordinance is to accumulate funds in a "cap bank," which can act as a safety net for unexpected expenses in the township or a decrease in state aid. Cap bank funds were used to meet last year's budget. In Byram's case, the difference between complying with the state-mandated 2.5 percent budget cap and the 3.5 percent increase under the ordinance is $85,000. Roseff said the point of the petition is to stop Byram from repeatedly busting the state-mandated budget cap and that a cap bank should only be used when the township foresees an emergency. Council members Nisha Kash and Carlos Luaces voted against the increased spending ordinance. Mayor James Oscovitch, and council members Marie Raffay and Scott Olson voted for the increased spending ordinance. The status of the petition is unclear at this point. It's possible that the case will be decided through litigation between the coalition and the township. An update on this story will run in the next edition of The Township Journal.