rece. Thank you everyone for attending tonight uh the March 24th, 2026 Board of County Commissioners regular meeting. We have a full slate of things to do tonight. So I'm so glad that you could all be here with us. With that
said, Lou, could we do a roll call? >> County Commissioners Bartlett >> here, >> D'Vor >> present, >> James Remagalia >> here, >> Schratz >> here, >> deputy director Cruz >> here, >> director Lazar >> here.
>> And the next one is the open public meeting law. Ladies and gentlemen, the notice requirement of the open public meetings law has been satisfied with respect to this meeting specifying the time, date, and location, including the annual notice adopted the reorganization meeting filed with the county clerk posted administration building mailed to
two newspapers in accordance with the provisions of the law. >> Thank you. And Commissioner D'vor, will you lead us in the pledge of allegiance? >> Please stand and join me in saluting the flag of our country. Please. I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Father Ryan during the program. >> Okay. Could we have a moment of silence
to remember the men and women who have died while serving in the United States armed forces? And today we lost one of our own uh Dr. Steven Rose from Pay County Community College. Let's just give him an extra extra strong. Thank
you. >> Thank you. Uh, can I have a motion to approve the minutes of March 10th, 2026? >> So moved. Second >> D'Vor and Remaglia. >> D'vor and Raglia.
>> County Commissioners Bartlett. >> Yes. >> D'Vor, >> yes. >> Remagia, >> yes. >> Tratz, >> yes. >> Deputy Director Cruz, >> yes. >> Director Lazaro, >> yes. Um at this time can I have a motion to approve the proclamations? >> So moved.
>> Second or remaglia. >> County commissioners Bartlett. >> Yes. >> D'vor. >> Yes. >> Remaglia. >> Yes. >> Tratz. >> Yes. >> Deputy director Cruz. >> Yes. >> Director Lazar. >> Yes. And at this point, I'll turn the program over to our county administrator. >> Thank you, director. And I'll turn it
right back over to you for our Women's History Month celebration. This is such a great crowd. I thank you all for being here tonight. The uh so for women's history month, there's always a theme and this year the theme is leading the change, women shaping a
sustainable future. And when I read that, I thought to myself, okay, we're moving forward here. We're not looking back. So, I thought about what truly shapes our world today. It's not one group. It's not one voice. It's a collaboration of people working side by
side. Women and men on equal footing, each bringing their strength, the ideas, and the determination to the table. Today, it's no longer gender that defines a person's impact. It's their
capability, their focus, and their commitment to making the lives of others better. That's what drives meaningful change. It's re and it's a really simple concept.
We're not here tonight to look back, though the contributions of women who paved the way are undeniable and deeply important. Their work helped build the foundation we stand on today. But something powerful has shifted.
We no longer need to bring a chair to the table because that chair is already there, right? The expectation is no longer inclusion. It is contribution, leadership, and progress.
And the future, it belongs to our daughters, to our granddaughters, to our sisters, and to everyone willing to lead with purpose and vision. Tonight, we honor women whose service, legacy, and
lives are not only inspiring, they are guiding the path forward for generations to come. Tonight, we honor four incredible women. One, a healthc care manager at New York Presbyterian Hospital, whose leadership
and dedication drive workforce initiatives that impact more than 48,000 people. the executive director of the Pay County One-Stop Career Center, who opens doors of opportunity by equipping community
members with the tools and resources they need to build stronger futures. The deputy mayor of Patterson, whose unwavering commitment continues to strengthen her city and uplift all of those that she serves.
and a woman whose unparalleled knowledge of the elector electoral process makes her an invaluable resource and a steadfast guardian of our democracy. Tonight, we're going to honor these four
uh four women and the first one alphabetically Okay. >> So, there's a little change in the plan. Chairman, would you like to come up and give some remarks? >> Oh, absolutely. >> Good evening, everyone.
Thank you, Madame Director. For this opportunity, I deeply appreciate it. Uh, I don't come to many of these things because I know what they're going to do. uh at the meetings from their agendas.
But tonight to me is special. All four of this these women have been in my life one way or the other for so many years uh helping me. I wanted to come and congratulate them uh and their
various duties. Hana, you and I have worked together for this is I believe your 40th year in the election process. Uh Maria, you have worked with me with the party for many years as deputy
mayor. Uh uh Sophia have worked with me at the one stop. And Rosemary, you and your family has been in my life for at least 40 years. So, I'm hoping to
stay, but my staff have me on a schedule, I have to speak at another event at quarter of seven uh in Helen. So, in case I miss one of you, I just wanted to stop by and
congratulate all of you for the time that you give uh really your job and the time that you give to other organizations and people. And I'm so proud in each and every one of you. God bless you. I still need you in my life and stay please be there for me. Thank
you very much. >> Okay. So, apparently I don't follow uh programs very well. I'd like to invite Father Ryan up to give the invitation. It's always nice to have the chair as the warm-up act before we pray.
You know, I had I was telling my two sisters that we were having this celebration of Women's History Month. We were at lunch and one is on one side and the other's on the other. You better say a good prayer. You better not go too long. You better like, "Oh, God, now I
know why I became a priest." So they're all for you. So am I. We pray. God of hope, nourish the hope that is already in our hearts. Help us to look for the good and the positive in
our personal life and in the larger world. Help us to seek and find other hopeful people to be with, to draw strength and encouragement from them,
and with whom we may share our own hope. Urge us to stay in touch with the many wonders of creation. And finally, help us to make time for our children, for they are the clear reminders to us
of your steadfast hope in humankind. We ask this as we ask all things through Christ our Lord. Amen. I'm glad we see some kids here today, too. All right. So, at this time, I'd like to invite
Commissioner John Bartlett up to present the first proclamation. >> Thank you, Sandy. As many of you know, I'm a voting rights lawyer. And one of the things that I have always believed that voting rights should not be a partisan issue because
it is about our democracy. Small D, not big D. And it is about all of us living and sharing the governance of this nation and this state and this county together. Chairman, I know you agree and I know that we're proud here in P County that those rights are protected in
nonpartisan fashion by some exceptional women. our superintendent of elections, Shona Mack, our county clerk, Danielle Ireland Immhof, and the woman that I have the pleasure of introducing and honoring tonight, Hanukkah.
So, I will read this into the record and very appropriately, it's a nice pink mat. Whereas the month of March has been designated as National Women's History Month in recognition of the outstanding achievements and contributions made by many exceptional women over the years,
the board of county commissioners of the county of Pay deems it fitting and appropriate at this time to honor and recognize Hannah Katau. And whereas Hana Catau began her career with the Pay County Clerk's Office in January 1986,
40 years ago, as a keyboarding clerk. and through dedication, hard work, and exceptional professionalism was promoted to election clerk in 1987, principal election clerk in 1999, and election supervisor in 2013. And whereas throughout her four decades
of service, Hannah has demonstrated outstanding integrity, professionalism, and an unwavering commitment to the voters and candidates of Pay County, earning the respect and admiration of colleagues throughout the state of New Jersey. And whereas her extensive institutional knowledge, strong work
ethic, and willingness to assist colleagues and the public have made a lasting and meaningful impact on the daily operations and reputation of the Pose County Clerk's Office. And whereas Hana has faithfully served through evolving election laws, advancing
technology, and five administrative changes, always adapting with diligence, grace, and a positive spirit of collaboration. And whereas she has guided the elections division through significant challenges, including ensuring voter access following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Actually,
that's the first time I voted in person. That's right. >> Right downstairs um with that with a vote by mail ballot the week before you guys opened up and it was uh exceptional service and and uh opportunity for folks. voter access during Hurricane
Sandy and overseeing critical mail-in ballot operations during the CO 19 pandemic and the 2020 presidential election. And whereas Hana has also made history as the first and only Circasian-American woman to hold the title of election supervisor in the
entire state of New Jersey, representing an important milestone in both public service and representation. And whereas throughout her career, Hana has become known not only for her leadership and dedication, but also for her honesty, humor, and ability to work
collaboratively while ensuring that the job is done with excellence. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the Bet County Board of County Commissioners hereby recognizes Hannah Katau during Women's History Month for her 40 years of exceptional public service, leadership, and dedication to the
residents and voters of P County. And be it further proclaimed that the county of PC extends its sincere gratitude and appreciation to her for her contributions and congratulates her on this remarkable milestone. >> Good evening everyone.
I'm very, very happy, excited, nervous speaking in public, but thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, Danielle, Mr. Chairman Curry, Commissioner, all the commissioner.
Really, it's a heartfelt thank you from my heart. Thank you my family who's always support me. I love you. all the friends and relatives that made this moment possible. Thank you.
>> All right. Good. Goodbye. >> And you're also receiving, you might have seen these before, a certificate from the office of the P County Clerk, uh, as well as one from a certificate of special recognition from another great woman in Pay County, our surrogate
judge, Zoa Kasanova. >> Oh, thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you so much. >> You take a picture. Hold on. You got one more. Congratulations. My camera's Absolutely. Keep that. She keeps that.
>> Hold on. Okay. I'm very honored to be able to present a proclamation to a good friend of mine. Um, you've gotten close over the years and I consider you a sister. Uh, come on up while I read this.
Come on. Whereas the month of March has been designated as National Women's History Month. And in recognition of the outstanding achievements and contributions made by many exceptional women over the years, the board of county commissioners of the county of
Pake deems it fitting and appropriate at this time to honor and recognize Rosemary Trinkle Baron. Whereas Rosemary is a distinguished alumni of Fairley Dickinson University having earned her degree from the
Silverberman College of Business with a concentration in hotel and restaurant management and proudly represents a multi-generational legacy of family alumni. Four sisters, your mom and your dad,
>> aunt, uncle, and dad. Whereas in recognition of her family's long-standing dedication to education and philanthropy, the John Robert and Mary Trinkle Rula Career Development Center was established to support
student success. And in 2024, Rosemary furthered this commitment by helping to establish the Dr. Richard Weiss Scholarship Fund to support future students pursuing careers in hospitality.
Whereas Rosemary has built an accomplished professional career spanning both hospitality and healthc care, holding senior leadership roles with Hilton Hotels and Resorts and Hyatt Hotels Corporation, and for over 20
years has served at New York Presbyterian Hospital as manager of organizational development where she leads enterprisewide talent and workforce initiatives. pursuing careers in hospitality.
Oh, I did that one. Impacting more than 48,000 employees. I said that before. >> Okay. >> I said it before. Rosemary has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to civic engagement through her service to the city of Clifton,
including as president of the Clifton Board of Recreation, member of the city's 100th anniversary committee and involvement in local political and community organizations, as well as her leadership and volunteerism at St.
Andrews Catholic School. Now therefore, let it be proclaimed that the P County Board of County Commissioners proudly recognizes Rosemary Trinko Baron during Women's History Month for her outstanding contributions to her
profession and to her community. Be it further proclaimed that the county pake extends its sincere appreciation to Rosemary Trinkle Baron for her distinguished accomplishments and dedicated service and acknowledges the
meaningful influence she has had in advancing her field and inspiring others. You're amazing. So, thank you very much. I am very grateful for this award and um Sandy called me and we were speaking and it
was around the snowstorm and I was like, "Oh, would you like me to give you an update on what's going on in Clifton regarding the snowstorm?" And she said, "Sure, but I really called you for something else." So I was very shocked but also very honored and I feel very grateful um that I have been in a
position to be able to be of service to you know my community and also to Fairley Dickinson University where I now serve on the board of trustees and I'm a past alumni president and I know that that is because of the legacy of my family and I'm grateful
to have had my mother's family be in Patterson for many many years of service in South Patterson as well as my father's family who arrived in Clifton in the 1800s. And I'm grateful that they taught me um my mother, my father, my aunts, and my uncles the importance of
being of service to others and to pass that on because whatever is given to us, we do have a responsibility to be grateful and to help the next person that we can. Thank you. And thank you, Chairman. >> Thank you. Don't go anywhere. We have
your proclamation from the commissioners. We have a certificate from you from the P County Clerk Danielle Ireland Immhof and a certificate from our surrogate. >> Thank you, >> Zora Kasanova. So, I would like your
family to come up and join us in addition to Clifton Mayor Ray Grabowski >> and Councilman Tony Leona. >> Anybody else? George. Um and George Silva and anyone with FDU Laura and
Plesca >> I don't know I'm gonna move this back. You can get in front of it. >> Okay. Thank you. Sorry. Thank you very much. Okay, I'll let >> the chair
>> would be even worse than as commissioner. Peter Schutz approaches the podium. Let's all join together and wish her a very happy birthday. >> It's her birthday today, guys. >> Thank you. >> Good evening everyone.
>> So, I have the honor to present this proclamation to a friend to many and a special leader and also a super football mom. >> If you could please join us, Sophia, please. Whereas
the month of March has been designated as National Women's History Month and in recognition of the outstanding achievements and contributions made by many exceptional women over the years, the board of county commissioners of the
county of PA dooms it fitting and approach appropriate at this time to honor and recognize Sophia Komas Phillips. And whereas Sophia Koma Phillips serves as the executive director of the Pose County
One South Korea Center where she leads a workforce resource hub dedicated to empowering individuals with the information, tools, and support necessary to successfully navigate their career pathways. And whereas in this
role, Sophia Komas Phillips oversees comprehensive employment and training services that strengthen the local workplace and expand access to opportunities for residents throughout Pay County. And whereas prior to joining
Pose County, Sophia Komas Phillips served as assistant vice president of youth services for Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey. where she directed programs serving more than 14,000 young people
across New York City and previously served as grant manager grants manager for the Hudson County Department of Family Services overseeing major state and federal grants that funded vital social support and workforce training
program. Whereas a graduate of St. John's University, >> there you go. Sophia Comz Phillips began her career in social services and East Harlem, New York, and the East Harlem Council for
Community Improvement, where she served as both a case manager for employment services and a business English instructor, beginning a lifelong commitment to serve equity and community impact. And whereas beyond her professional accomplishment, Sophia
Komez Phillips is a devoted wife, mother, and a community member married for 29 years to her beloved husband, Beny, and the proud mother of three children while also dedicating her time to
volunteering in her community of Hasco, New Jersey, supporting local softball and cheerleader programs. Now therefore, BA proclaimed that the Pose County Board of County Commissioners proudly recognizes Sophia Komas Phillips during the women's history month for her
leadership, dedication to workplace development, and lasting contributions to the residents of P County. Beer further proclaimed that the county of Pake extends its sincere gratitude and appreciation to Sophia Komas Phillips for her commitment to strengthening our
workplace, our workforce, excuse me, and empowering individuals and families to achieve opportunity and success. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, thank you to the commissioners, our county administrator, our board to the clerk, our county council, Chairman Curry, who
is my mentor, and my boss. Um, if anyone knows anything about me, they know how important family is. And I have several levels of family, and I have my county family, Zyla, Danielle, um, who I confide in and who I talk to.
I have my one-stop family here. All my ladies um who um I couldn't go to work every day without your guidance, without your love. David Dean, my partner in crime, who who helps me with everything.
Um I also have another family, my Bosow family. My Bosow moms are here. Um yes, I am a football mom. My amazing son is here. has nine D1 offers to play football in
college. So, I'm very proud of him and um two beautiful daughters, one in medical school, one as a teacher. So, um my family and my village is everything to me and that's the only way um I can be successful. So, I thank all of you.
Thank you. So, we're gonna push this back, right? >> Yeah. >> We got to give her >> Come on up. It's our star. It's our star athlete here. Say >> yes. >> I'm right behind red.
Oh yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. So everyone, now we will have our deputy director, Orlando Cruz, Commissioner Orlando Cruz, uh, present our final proclamation. >> I got it. I got her.
>> You're good. You're good. >> Here we go. >> All right, guys. How's everybody doing tonight? >> Good. Good. Happy to see everybody. We're here to celebrate some phenomenal women that have long-standing contributions in our county. We're so
proud. I guess I can probably speak for all the men up here. We are happy to be surrounded by such powerful women that continue to move the needle forward here in P County. And I oftentimes say I I ask our administrator sometimes how does he do it? And then I realized he
surrounded about 80% of women. Our directors are in leadership roles in this county. Uh and that is a testament uh to the diversity that we have to the confidence we have on when women lead things get done. And we are so proud of that here in P County. And so it is my
honor to present our next honore. Uh a person who I have had many interactions with a person who I have seen in action in our beloved city of Patterson leading the way as a powerful woman and bringing up the next generation behind her. So
ladies and gentlemen, welcome Maria Deilar Rivas. So whereas the month of March has been designated as national women's history month and in recognition of the outstanding achievements and contributions made by many ex exceptional women over the years. This
board of county commissioners deems it fitting and appropriate at this time to honor and recognize Maria dear Rivas. Whereas Maria a native of Lima, Peru Chimpung, >> there you go. has dedicated decades of
her life to uplifting communities both locally and internationally through civic engagement, humanitarian services, and community leadership. Whereas she has served on numerous civic and leadership roles, including president of the Peruvian Parade, Inc., co-founder
and president of the Peruvian American Political Action Committee of New Jersey, board of adjustment commissioner for the city of Patterson, legislative aid, and deputy mayor of the city of Patterson. Maria established Parilar Bridal Center in 1982 and became the
first female president of the Taylor and Design Association of New Jersey in 1984. That's the year I was born. >> Oh. >> Demonstrating leadership and entrepreneurship within local business community. Throughout her career, Miss
Rivas has worked tirelessly to support immigrant communities and advocate for issues including immigration assistance, domestic violence awareness, youth services, and community development. Through her humanitar humanitarian efforts and leadership of organizations
such as children's without borders, USA foundation and other community initiatives, she has provided disaster relief, medical assistance, educational support, and humanitarian aid to families in need both here in the United States and abroad. Whereas Miss Reebas has also played a significant role in
promoting cultural pride and international collaboration, including her efforts to establish sister city relationships between the city of Patterson and cities throughout Peru and establishment of Peru Square on Market Street in Patterson, celebrating the
rich contributions of the Peruvian community, and arguably the location of some of the best Peruvian cuisines in the entire country. >> Load lant. So now therefore, let it be proclaimed by the P County Board of County Commissioners who probably proudly
recognizes Maria de Pilar Rivas during Women's History Month for her outstanding leadership, humanitarian service, and lasting contributions to the community. And let it be further proclaimed that this county extends its sincere appreciation to her and her unwavering commitment to service,
community empowerment, and advancement in cultural unity. Congratulations Good evening. >> Good evening, >> chairman. Thank you for being here. First, I want to thank God to give me
the life and this shiny day to be here tonight with all of you and celebrate this awards with these uh wonderful woman's Hannah Rosemary Sophia.
Yeah, Hannah, Rosemary and Sophia. I thought was one more >> you >> and I want to thanks our commissioners all of you all of you thank you so much for this award.
Thank you to my beautiful friend and director Cassandra Lassara and my good friend, Deputy Director Orlando Cruz and another good friend Danielle and our surrogate
Soila. I arrived to this uh beautiful country 48 years ago 1978 full of dreams and with the promises of achievements my goals
two years later I open my bridal shop Par's bridal center we always speaking and understanding English facing this challenges for 26 years as a single mom I ful fulfill my dreams
of having two sons, Ronaldo and Jer Nuda. We are now married and have given me love on my life. My grandchildrens, Maximilliano, Bea, and Jacob. >> All right. Life has made me a millionaire. And not
because I have money, because I have beautiful friends and I have beautiful family and I can help those in need. Same thing that is now part of my life and who I am
be. Thank you to the love of my life for being there and understand my work as community leader for support me and hug me when I need it. Thank you Oscar.
I will always continue doing what I love because life has allow me great achievement that give me the opportunity to move forward with a great faith and gratitude. I thank the organizers of this event and humbly accept this
recognition which I dedicate to my beloved mother who is in heaven. She was the example of the woman I am now. And remember never stop dreaming,
never stop serving and never stop fighting for others. Thank you so much for all of you. Thank you. >> Yes. >> Oscar,
>> my friend. >> Congratulations. and just your son. We're learning. >> Congratulations again. Sorry, please. Okay. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that
concludes our first portion of our meeting, our women history month celebration. We do have a delicious buffet on the first floor for everyone to enjoy. However, you can stay, but I would want you to enjoy the the delicious food that we provided you
today. Again, thank you to all the runneries and thank you all for supporting. Thank you. and and director director if I could just just uh we we mentioned that we had certificates from from uh Kasanova and
Ireland but I just want to make sure we formally introduce that we were joined today by uh surrogate judge Zoa Kasanova, County Clerk Danielle Ireland Immhof um and Deputy Deputy County Clerk
Nuisa Tawitch also So, thank you for being with us. And Clifton Mayor uh Gowski and Clifton Councilman Leona. Thank you. >> Take break it. Okay.
At this time, um, can I have a motion to suspend the regular order of business? So, >> move second. >> Director. Director. Not yet. >> What? >> Not yet. That's not until we get to the bond ordinance. I remove your motion.
>> I resend my motion. >> I resend my second. >> Oh, okay. Just for the record. >> You guys look like a gang up there. You're about to beat somebody up. >> Good evening, commissioners. Uh it's hard to believe this is the fourth uh
budget that I'm presenting to this board as the county administrator. Um definitely the most challenging. Um, you know, we're seeing it. Uh, county and local governments across New Jersey are seeing it. It's challenging budget years for a variety of reasons. Um, I think what you're going to see here is that
because of the strong financial foundation that we do have, um, we're able to weather this storm and present a responsible budget that is maintaining essential services vital to our residents. So, just some foundational um, slides.
um our budget committee and thank you to Chairman Bartlett, um Director Lazera, Commissioner Cruz, I know we had several meetings with all the commissioners discussing this budget and then our administrative staff, myself, deputy administrator Tim Roman, uh assistant county administrators May Mcinley and
Kelly Rafell, our CFO Rich Cahill, of course, our auditor Steve Wilcox. So, just talk a little bit about process. So, in uh last year in July, the CFO sends out a memo to all of our department heads um tells them to start preparing their budgets. And I just want to recognize all of our department heads
to do a lot of the back-end work and um our understanding of our role in presenting a responsible budget and and oftentimes doing more with less um during the budget process. Um thereafter we meet with all of the department heads
uh throughout the fall um and then start the framework of our budget and then we have several meetings uh internally with my my core budget team to get to this point where we're presenting a budget. Our priorities stable taxes uh maintaining our credit rating uh and a
continued investment in vital programs, our infrastructure, our park system, our historic sites. challenges and we're going to talk about a lot this we're going to talk about this a lot and a lot of governments are talking about the challenges related to medical and prescription costs the federal funding
cuts um with this new federal with the new president um it's there's a lot of uncertainty um and it's challenging you never know what's going to happen dayto day um normally stable federal funding sources have become unstable we had to deal with the federal government shutdown and
everything that came from that um and emergencies you know We've dealt with two major snowstorms this year. Um, again, we dealt with the federal government shutting down and commissioners, to your credit, um, and to the credit of our financial position, us being able to step in and make sure
people had food when when SNAP benefits were cut. Um, so there's been a lot of challenges. So, we'll start with some good news. Um, for the 10th year in a row, our tax rate is decreasing. It's a 37% reduction in the county tax rate over the last 10 years.
turn it over to our CFO to just explain a bit what that is. >> Okay, so this chart shows um the tax rate over a 10-year period and and basically what it does is it shows um it's a picture of the the the tax levy divided by the uh uh property values within the county. Um you know what
you're not seeing is it's really showing how how strong the uh well how stable county taxes have been over the last 10 years. But not only that, um, hidden in this picture is strong property values. Um, and with strong
property values are, you know, people looking to come to Pay County to, um, uh, develop homes, develop businesses. Um, they want to be here because of the proximity to New York, to the, uh, u location to highways. It's just a great
place to be. >> Okay. Um, so you know, it's it's the uh the property values that are really driving this along with the stable taxes over the last 10 years that um are are really
a benefit to the county and and and um a tribute to you and and and maintaining uh our budget and stable taxes over the last 10 years. >> Yeah. In short, you know, it means county is an attractive place where people are coming to live, to work, and to invest. and that and that's what
we're seeing here over the last decade. >> Can you explain practically what the tax rate reduction means to Pay County? >> Yeah. So, I would go back again. It's it's a place where um people are investing. You're seeing property values rise and it's because we have a a stable
government and we have a stable tax levy and um we're um we see businesses and families moving here and investing in P County. um because of those factors. >> Thank you. >> So, you know, we talk a lot about our credit rating and it's an it's important
for a variety of reasons. Um and I like um I like third party validation. It's not me saying something. We have Moody's which is a an international credit rating agency that's doing this for corporations and and governments across the United States maintaining our credit
rating for highest ever credit rating for the sixth year in a row. Um last year we had six different ratings um all six times it was maintained. Um, and here's just a snapshot of, you know, what they're saying about us. That, um, you know, we have a strong bench of
civil servants that are making sure things are being run professionally. Um, you know, we have a strong institutional framework. We have conservative bud budgeting practices. And that allows us to, you know, not only run an effective government, but also assist all all of our municipalities and various
partnerships. Okay. So, so this uh chart shows a a picture of our fund balance over the um the last 10 years or so. And you can see how each year it's grown and and this is one of the areas that MO Moody's focuses on when they look at us. And and
generally when you talk about a government strength, you talk about fund balance. Um fund balance does a number of things. is it provides stability in in budgeting purposes. Um it provides cash flow, right? You have the ability to um meet your obligations on in a
timely manner. Um the Moody's rating, the you know the the the high increase or the the the the ratings that we have for Moody's allows us to borrow money at a lower cost than than it would had we not had a a good
rating. So, you know, it's it's really important that we maintain fund balance and and we grow it where we can. Um, you will see in this chart that um fund balance has grown every year except for calendar year 25. And you'll see that little asterk. Um,
it's kind of interesting because we closed out our books at year end and we were at $120 million. Um, but then we we realized that there was an entry that needed to be made and it was an accounting entry. um New Jersey governments do not follow generally
accepted counting principles. What we do do is we follow um a more conservative method um which is required by the state of New Jersey and and because of that methodology we needed to book um an interf fund or or set off or set up a
reserve related to our grant funds um because there were grant funds that we had not received um and and that really accounted for the drop in um uh fund balance in calendar year 2025 which is really just an accounting entry.
So reserves which are an important tool that that we have and that have grown uh over the last 20 years. And as we were preparing for this presentation, we were talking about in a lot of ways, you know, reserves are, you know, more important than fund balance in terms of the unknowns. um you know, not knowing
what's going to happen from day to day, not knowing the federal government's going to shut down, not knowing we're going to get 4 feet of snow, um not knowing what, you know, lawsuits we're going to have to deal with or or what health benefits and prescription benefits look like on a month-to-month basis. This gives us the flexibility
um to ensure that we can deal with the unknowns without major spikes um in our budget. Um >> yeah. So the the first three uh line items on this uh schedule show workers comp, health benefits and liability insurance. These are all uh as you may
or may not know, we are self-insured for the these um these risk and and these reserves help us manage those risk which are you know can be um quite challenging at times. Um so over the years we've um tried to grow these reserves to the
extent we can. You know we have limited resources. Um and one of the ways we do that is we um at the the completion of a any calendar year we we always have two years worth of budgets in place. We have the current year presently calendar year
26 and uh we always have the prior year budget which is um still in place to cover any uh remaining liabilities from the prior year but we also have some flexibility with that budget to do transfers. Um in fact on tonight's agenda there is a
resolution to transfer funds and we we these are what I call strategic transfers. We move money from uh older budget lines that where we know no long going to need the funds and we move them to lines where we think we're going to need them or where we can assess risk.
So um and and we'll move some of those funds into some of these reserves. Um one reserve especially the snow uh snow removal uh reserve. Um you know we ended the year with $4.1 million. I can tell
you after tonight's meeting, we're going to be down to $1.9 million. Um, this snow that came this year was incredible. Uh, the cost to remove it was just as incredible. And, um, you never really know how dramatic some of these expenses
are going to be until they actually hit you. >> Yeah. And again, that that speaks to the flexibility that we have. um you know, we were able to respond to the storms, you know, properly and in an efficient manner because we had this reserve. Um
if we didn't, um you know, I'm not sure we'd be presenting this budget tonight. We'd probably still be working on things, but it gives us the built-in flexibility to make sure that we can absorb uh these unknowns. So, salaries and wages, and we're going to talk a lot in future slides about
things that are out of our control in a lot of respects. You know, this is one thing that we can control and we are controlling. Um, this budget only sees a 1% increase in salaries and wages across all departments. Um, since I started as administrator in 2023, um, I've renegotiated 19 of our 23 collective
bargaining agreements. And we're doing that in a way um that is fiscally responsible. Uh, you know, every time I'm negotiating a contract, I'm working with Rich. I'm working with our payroll director, Jason Mitchell, and I'm projecting out, you know, what does this
look like in years three, four, and five so that we're properly planning so that we can live within the budgetary caps that we have to. So again, we're, you know, we're we're sitting at the unions, we're we're sitting with the unions, we're partnering with them, and we're ensuring
that we have sustainable growth in salary and wages um while maintaining essential services for our residents. Matt was saying, >> there's a lot of things that are out of our control. >> Yeah, >> we're on.
>> Yep. >> There are a lot of things that are out of our control, and one of those things is federal funding. What comes from Washington? The Trump administration cut historically stable funding sources which the county had started to rely on. Whether that was public health, human
services, home energy, weatherization. This past year, the county lost $3.17 million in federal funding. Yet, the county is still able to maintain essential services. A good example of this was the federal shutdown in November, which disrupted SNAP benefits
for 75,000 residents in Pate County. to help fill this gap. And because of the county's sound financial footing, we were able to allocate more than a thousand dollars to local supermarkets to help prepare food boxes for SNAP
recipients. Because of the county sound footing, we were ready for this, but it is uncertainty. >> And listen, it's not just the funding, it's also on the revenue side. So, um, you know, the county had established four or five years ago county optional
hospital fee program. It was a partnership with our local hospitals, and it was a way to maximize Medicaid revenues coming into our hospitals. Um, because of the federal shutdown, we weren't able to collect $2 million um in revenue that that we had in our budget.
um you know with with the SNAP funding um you know with the lapse in SNAP benefit as may have said um and this speaks to you know the importance of our reserves. We had to step in there and spend close to $500,000 to make sure 85,000 state county residents had access
to food for that um stretch of time. So, statewide health and prescription benefits. And I'm just going to key this up for our auditor because he's doing this all over the state and he's seeing this problem across New Jersey. Um, this isn't unique to us. Um, you're seeing it
on the statewide level. You're seeing it in county governments. You're seeing in local governments. The big thing that I'd like to emphasize here is there's a lot of different ways that governments are responding to this. Um, and as you'll see by what we're presenting, we're able to do it in a
responsible way. So, >> thanks, Matt. As usual, I get the bad news. Um, state health benefits are out of control. It's a statewide problem. I as I was
sitting here watching you honor the women of the year honores I got a text message from my son Matthew with an article hot off the presses Hoboken board of ed unanimously approves
tenative 104.8 million budget with 27% tax hike 27%. The article goes on to talk about it. The school increase is $750 to the average residential assessment of
$562,000. That's on top of the city, which I represent, hasn't introduced their budget yet, but they have a $17 million budget gap, which equates to about a 22% tax increase.
These increases are driven by health care, by health care, and by health care. Salaries are controllable. There's contracts.
Hoboken Board of Ed happens to be in the state health benefits plan. 34% increase this year. Over the last four years, state health benefits, which if everybody remembers, the former governor pushed
and and and coddled people into going into state health benefits because the thought process was that the bigger you make it, the more covered people there are, the wider you can spread the cost,
the better it'll be. hasn't worked out that well. Everybody that can is getting out of state health health benefits and the only ones that are going to be left in state health benefits are going to be the bad actors that can't find another place to go because their experience rating is so
bad that nobody else will take them. We're self-insured. Over the last six years, I believe we've seen an increase of about 70%. which ironically
is bordering on tremendous based on everything that's going out in in the healthc care community and the cost of benefits. I can tell you the clients, the municipal clients and
the county clients that I've worked with so far this year, and we're not done, obviously. Every single municipality and county is looking at a significant increase in appropriations and in their tax levy.
So, it it's again, this issue is not just a Pay County issue. It's not just a New Jersey issue, but it it it's Hoboken is going to be the average homeowner in Hoboken is probably going
to be looking at when all is said and done a $1,500 increase in their property taxes in one year. The system is in big trouble.
I'm done with the bad news. So, let's just frame that in terms of what it what it looks like here, right? So, since 2018, we've seen a $33 million increase in group hospitalization and prescription uh benefits program. It's a 71% uh increase. And again, you know,
this this is not unique to us and and frankly, this is with 200 less covered lives. Um so, there's a lot of different ways governments across New Jersey are dealing with this problem, but because of our financial stability, um we're we're able to do it in a way that's both
responsible and stable. So, what are we doing to try and contain these costs? Because we're not doing nothing, right? So, um we're focused on our traditional healthcare plan. It's our most expensive plan offered to employees. Uh there's four different plans. Um we've uh done a lot of work
through collective bargaining um eliminating eligibility for that plan for 10 of our 23 units. And for the remaining 13 units, we've limited eligibility. So, we've stopped it with new hires at a set date. Um, we've done uh a lot of um negotiating with the
unions uh to incentivize the use of generic prescriptions which saves us a lot of money. You know, I use the uh example of Vicodin. You use name brand Vikin. It costs $100 hundreds of dollars more than using a generic prescription. So, we're pushing incentivizing employees to make sure that they're
using generic prescriptions. And we're leveraging our partnership with CVS Caremark, which is our prescription benefit manager, to um leverage that relationship and and yield savings from that. A big driver that that we're seeing and
that a lot of different government entities are seeing are the use of GLP drugs. Um they're very expensive. There is no generic. Um but we have put in um pre-clarance measures uh last year um through the insurance commission um to ensure that if you're using this GOP
there's a a medical reason. It's not just I want to lose weight. It's you have diabetes or you have some sort of cardiovascular issue button. So that's it for the bad news for now. So, we have this conversation a lot. I have it with the commissioners. I I have
it with uh you know, residents and the general public of what does the county government do? So, you know, I want to spend some time talking about what exactly this budget funds and it runs the gamut from law and public safety to senior services to health and human services. The county is al often the
first line in in our in our country's social safety net. It's education, it's parks, it's historic sites, it's tourism. you know, we run elections and we have a lot of infrastructure that we're responsible for. So, let's start with education. Um, this
budget funds $26 million uh in funding for um our two educational institutions, PA County Technical Institute and P County Community College. Um, as you're all well aware, um, PCTI is one of the top schools in Pay County. It's one of
the top schools in New Jersey and that's due in large part because of the funding that this board is providing that school and Pay County Community College um you know and God rest the soul. You know we lost Dr. Rose today and um you know a lot of the work he's done has
um created opportunities for people over you know his 40 year long career and you know numbers seem abstract but you know my mom went to P County Community College you know she graduated you know later in life she graduated the same year I graduated high school and it was
because PCC was there you know she was able to go there in an affordable way we were a middle-ass family you know she went on to William Patterson she got her masters um and had a 20-year teaching career in Bloomingdale. So, that was all because of the funding that the commissioners are providing to make sure
that S County Community College exists. So, public safety, uh, just like in local government and county government, public safety is a large driver of this budget. So, what does the public safety in Pay County provide? Um, our sheriff's offices
provide safety and security here around the courthouse complex. Uh, we're paying for the jailing of inmates from all of our municipalities throughout the county. And we closely work with and assist our municipalities in many ways,
from detectives providing investigations to providing specialized services like the bomb squad, K-9 unit, and marine rescue units. The sheriff's department also supports our local police through a donation of
surplus equipment every year. So, our sheriff's department is really assisting and providing coverage for many of our municipalities throughout the course of the year. Our prosecutor's office is big part of that. Um, obviously
they're providing support to each of our municipalities as well. Uh this past year alone through the uh PT County Prosecutor's Office and the forfeite program, they were able to procure new equipment uh things like tactical gear,
software, technology for all of our local police departments to use. And a lot of that is not through tax dollars, but through forfeite funds. But it's good work of the prosecutor's office that the county foots the bill for.
our police academy, one of the finest in the state. Our police academy graduated over 120 officers this past fall. We're on track for another large graduating class this spring. Police academy is doing exceptional work as is
our OEM. Our OEM has uh been there for us through major disasters over the years, hurricanes, snowstorms. They continue to provide services to each and every one of our county uh local government agencies.
>> Yeah. Listen, nothing aggravates me more than hearing or reading people talk about how SE County wants to defund the police or that we don't prioritize public safety because I can tell you right now 25% of this budget is dedicated to protecting Safe Safe County
families. $103 million. So, anyone that tries to tell you that, you know, I'd like you to point to this slide. >> Next, we wanted to highlight the essential services that Pade County gives its seniors. In 2026, the county
budget provides over $42 million in funding for essential programs and services for Pade County seniors. Listed above, you can see some of those services. We want to highlight a few of them. First is Meals on Wheels. This past year, 224,819
meals were delivered to homebound P County seniors. Even in snowstorms, Shirley Force and our office on aging makes sure these seniors get a frozen meal the night before so they are not left hungry. We still have a waiting list of a hundred people and we are waiting to
zero that out so no P County resident who is homebound goes hungry this year. A few of our other senior services programs are our senior congregate sites. This past year, 56,000 meals were served across our seven county run senior sites, giving seniors a hot meal
and some socialization during the day. Then we have some caregiver assistance relief which gives inhome services to seniors who wish to age in place in their homes. And finally, we want to highlight our power transit division. This past year, they gave over 92,000
rides for seniors to essential appointments. This could have been a routine doctor's visit or something like a dialysis appointment that they might not have otherwise been able to get to without county power transit. >> And if I could, I just want to recognize Shirley Force, our director of senior
services, and Benny Cook, our nutrition division director. You know, during those two storms, there's a lot going on. You know, we're worried about clearing roadways and Shirley always makes sure that these seniors are getting food delivery. And you know, it's like when you have a million things going on, you forget it.
But but Shirley is always on it and she, you know, she cares with those for those seniors like they're her own parents and grandparents. Next, we want to highlight some other ways PT County is protecting the most vulnerable residents we have here. This kind of humanizes the budget, puts a
puts a face behind the people that are getting this funding. This could be youth services, addiction treatment, prevention, mental health services. It really runs the gamut. Something we're excited about this spring is the opening of the P County Highlands Regional Service Center in
West Milford to provide more access to upcount residents and just expand the resources. This will be a health department, a senior nutrition center, and it will also give access to mental health and addiction programming. >> Yeah. And I can tell you, Dr. Kakar, our
human services director, is, you know, on the cutting edge of of programs that we can offer. You know, she's always calling me with with new ideas. She's using data and analytics to make decisions to make sure that we're, you know, spending spending money in the most effective manner.
>> So, we've talked a lot about the Liberty. Um, you know, we're on track um to uh open our veterans and senior housing complex um this fall. Uh the waiting list is open. My slide's already outdated. We had an affordable housing
corporation meeting before this. We had 40 residents submit as of yesterday. As of today, we've had 55 residents submit um both veterans and seniors uh to apply to become eligible to live in this uh facility. Um, I think it speaks to the
board's uh, dedication and commitment to ensuring that our seniors and especially our veterans um, who, you know, put it all on the line and signed up to protect our country have uh, a place to live. So, our next slide highlights P County
Move. As you're all aware, P County Move launched last year and within its first eight months, it has seen over 50,000 individual rides. So, just to give the public a quick recap of how it works, to access the
service, residents can download the PT County Move app on their mobile device, and it works a lot like Uber as a point-to-point transit system. PT County Move is currently active in Clifton and Pake. Uh so residents in
those two towns can commute back and forth uh to any point within those communities whether it be shopping, doctor's appointments, uh we see a lot of kids going to school in the Move app. So it's really hitting a broad spectrum of people.
Over the last uh four months, Pate County Move has averaged over 1,400 rides per week. And in March, just this month, we're averaging over 1,800 rides per week, which is this data is telling us that MOVE continues to grow,
continues to perform, and continues to serve our residents more and more each month. And just, you know, everyone wants to talk about affordability now. elected officials, politicians, everyone's talking about affordability. And you know, you look at something like Pay County Move and and John Carla
Donardo, our economic development director, you know, we were having a conversation. He was um going business to business uh in Clifton and a lot of what the business owners were telling him that a lot of their employees, you know, lived in Payic and they were commuting via Uber um to Clifton and it
was costing them $200 a week. Now they can take P County move. It's a$180 a ride and that $150 $160 is is in their pocket every week instead of being spent on transportation. So that's creating affordability in county and and we're doing it in ways that isn't impacting
our budget by capitalizing on federal and state grants by working with our legislative delegation to get appropriations. Um we're we're setting up a meeting to talk about corporate sponsorships as way to make this a public private partnership to make it sustainable in the long term.
So, one of the things that you should all be proud about is your investment in the Pay County park system. This board of county commissioners has done a wonderful job supporting and investing our county parks and the results show our parks department is one
of the cleanest and safest in the country. And we have some incredible projects in the works for 2026, including the refurbishment of basketball courts at Garrett Mountain and the start of Dundy Island phase 2 improvements. Dundy Island phase two will be two
projects, a pedestrian bridge and a re renovation of North Palaski Park. The bridge project will be bid awarded and probably begin construction in 2026 with North Palaski Park being bid late in
2026 and starting construction 2027. We have several other park projects in development as we speak. The Highlands Rail Trail, which has become one of the most popular amenities in the Burrow of Wanuku, is scheduled to have a
phase two uh in 2027. We're going to be going through permitting with D this current year, and we look to put that project on track next year. Right around the corner from the rail trail, uh is the property that used to be known as Spring Brook Acres. It was
horse farm that was purchased in uh early 2025. We're in the concept phase. We're going to uh we've already officially renamed the property the Highlands Farm, but the property will uh finish its concept
plans this year. We'll go through D permitting and uh with some luck from the D, we'll be on our way to construction development in 2027. Uh these unique properties and opportunities only exist because of the
investments in the park system. And finally, uh, we want to recognize and point out, uh, at the bottom of that slide there, the, uh, county and city of Patterson coming together to form a partnership to restore the raceways around the Great Falls. This project is
going to be a multi-year effort and it is in the capable hands of our assistant county administrator, Kelly Rafll. >> Yeah. And I would just want to note that, you know, last year, um, I I was reviewing the presentation I gave in 2025. Um, and oftentimes in public
meetings, government officials will talk about projects want to do. And I look back at the projects we talked about last year. It was Highlands Rail Fail, Highlands Rail Trail phase one that we broke ground on that's completed. It was about the multi-million dollar investment in Lamur Castle that was
completed and opened. And it was the renovation of the historic Skylar Skyler Kfax House in Wayne, which is set to be open and is has been redubbed the Pay County Military Heritage Museum. So, we're not just talking about these things. We're accomplishing these things
and we're investing in the Pay County Park System. >> Stole a little of my information there. But um with the county's investment in parks and historic sites over the last 10 years um and of course with the efforts
and dedication of Daryl and his staff and Nordon Murphy and the department of engineering 2026 we will see an impact on revenue uh visitation and economic development. And just to give this in numbers, uh a few months ago I had
presented to the board our heritage tourism master plan which we did complete in 20125. Um, so New Jersey as a whole brings in 44 to 45 billion dollar in tourism uh revenue and of that 3.9 billion in heritage tourism and why
you know we're driving that and that's you know those figures is important to P County because Pake County is a destination for via heritage tourism. Um and with that we have sort of three sectors that you'll see in 2026 where we're going to move to our programmatic
arm after this you know decade of investment you know one forging partnerships with sort of more highprofile organizations like the Bruce Springsteen um center for American music which also is set to open in June. Um we have been invited to participate in more
statewide initiatives for example history pinned which is a passport program for the tourism season. So we've been selected for 2026. Um we're also in ads in Canada, Germany, other states to drive visit visitors here. And even in
20124, our last sort of benchmark, we saw two just over two million visitors to Pake County. So by having those partnerships, we're able to right our goal is to bring in more visitors. Uh second site reopening. Pake County will have all of its historic sites opened by
the end of 2026. So, right, starting with Lambert Castle that saw 3,000 visitors in its first weekend and has continued to see 300 to 400 visitors since its reopening. So, we'll have Lambert Tower early this uh summer um
the Skylar Kfax building by the end of summer. We have our Pay County Archaeology Center that's opening uh this spring. Um so right having these sites open has like is creating P County as a destination for people to come visit stay eat uh engage with um the
communities here. And lastly you know we have been over the years through the parks department and the department of culture and historic affairs putting on you know quality countywide events and initiatives. So right p county restaurant week art in the park the book festival the county fair they continue
to grow each year. So 2026 with FIFA and 250th combined we'll hold our first countywide tourism week which is July 6th through the 12th and again all benchmark like through successful budgeting uh that we're able to put on
high quality programs. So >> yeah and we're also creating partnerships with uh our municipalities. Um, you know, earlier this year, the board approved uh a miniigrant program to so so municipalities and nonprofit organizations can apply for funds to run
programs related to our country's 250th anniversary. So, you know, we're working across various levels because it's it's important for the towns and it's important for us that people come and um visit Pay County. It drives our local economy. Next, we want to talk about prioritizing
shared services agreements. Matt highlighted it with those partnerships with municipalities. So, last year, the county received a grant from DCA to support shared services. Part of that grant is covering the salary of a shared services coordinator whose job is to look for
those opportunities, whether it be with counties or municipalities to kind of partner up. You can see the larger list up there, but we want to highlight a couple of them. The first is the county serves as the health department and health officer for seven of our municipalities. Our health department
director, Ariselli Pintel, has spearheaded a lot of this and taken a lot of it on. This is no more expensive to the county, but it gives the municipalities not only savings, but more resources and access to that greater county health department. The
county is better equipped to handle a public health emergency as seen in COVID and things of that nature. These towns have small staffs, nine or 10 people. The county health department has 37 people on staff ready to handle any of these things. One town we'd like to
highlight as an example is Bloomingdale. So far, they've saved $28,000 and over the next 10 years are projected to save around $300,000 from using the county as their health officer. Another shared service agreement we have is the expansion of fiber optics to six
of our municipalities. This is giving them high-speed internet at a cost savings. This helps around 69,000 residents, saving municipalities almost $100,000 annually by using that county service. The last one we want to talk
about is we recently established a stakeholder committee of municipalities and experts to see the feasibility of a countywide EMS and kind of looking at those coverage gaps across the county to improve our emergency response overall, whether it be those rural communities
upount or the densely populated city suburban neighborhoods down. And as you can see from this list, we also have shared services with other counties, whether it be Bergen, Hudson, Essex, all across the board to save money and make things more efficient.
>> Yeah, it sort of runs the gamut from the big to the small. So, you know, on the small end, you know, we make our fueling stations available to all of our municipalities so they can fuel there because you run into procurement issues when they're going to private gas stations. Um, we've built two new salt domes uh over the last 15 years, both in
partnership with West Milford and Pompton Lakes where we share the dome and and both store salt there. um to the big to you know the jail consolidation which we talked about which is yielding savings as we've seen a reduced cost in our correctional division staff to um
we're we're in the um negotiations with Bergen County and and Hudson County over our medical examiner services um to our youth detention center which um was closed how long ago Steve 2010 which yields $10 million in savings
every year uh and and is also producing a better result. I mean, when our youth detention center was open, uh, our census rate was in the 90s and, you know, kids were in confinement and now we've pushed them toward towards alternatives where they're being streamlined better and and our our
inmate number has gone down. So, one of the big things that we talk about when we were building this budget was planning ahead and investing in our infrastructure and in our future. This past year, we conducted a facilities assessment report of all the county's buildings and physical
infrastructure. And the point of that exercise was to really start planning ahead for the future to inventory our systems and be less reactive and more proactive. So, what we're going to be doing over the course of this year is
developing a long range capital plan so we can get ahead of where we're going to need to replace things like HVAC systems and, you know, all the things that you really don't think about on a day-to-day basis, but need to be thinking about long term.
Another aspect of uh planning ahead is the open space master plan. We're required by law to update our open space master plan every so many years. Our county planner Andra Hollesman and his team are leading this charge.
Give a lot of credit to our parks department under Daryl Sparta as well. They've been working together to identify opportunities, weaknesses, and areas where we can continually improve. The open space master plan will be a guidance document
that will provide the county with a roadmap for where it is today to where it should be going 10 years from now. On top of all this, we want to make smart investments in our capital budget. Our capital budget each year should not
only reflect today's priorities, but should also prepare for tomorrow. In this year's capital budget, we're resurfacing roads, repairing bridges and culverts. We're doing major infrastructure projects such as replacing rooftop HVAC systems and a
roof at the county uh warehouse and we're looking to upgrade the p the uh p county golf course with a new public works facility that'll help them maintain their infrastructure better over at that at that site. We're working together between
departments to streamline our purchases and make sure that we're sharing equipment so that we're not overpurchasing so that we're budgeting effectively and we're working cooperatively to make the county a better place. >> Yeah. So, a lot of this planning is
about being um proactive instead of reactive. So, the facilities assessment port uh facilities assessment report, you know, it's going to allow us to ensure we're doing the preventative maintenance that we're getting as much life out of equipment um that we can and not just reacting to something breaking.
Um you know, we want to get in a cycle where, you know, we understand that we're going to need to fix or replace XYZ boiler HVAC system on a cycle so that we can handle it in a responsible fiscally sound way. Any
questions? >> So, director, I have I have two questions if I may through you. Um, just thank you for this. I appreciate the budget team on both sides from our commissioners as well as the administration. Um, you talked about the uh the strong credit rating that we
have. What's what's this? let the public know what the the importance of that is and how does it promote per say county in a >> well I I I'll I'll start um you know it's important for a variety of reasons uh you know when we're doing major projects and and we go out to borrow
money we're getting a reduced rate and it c the project ends up costing less and and what we're also seeing is you know I talked about earlier the six different um financial track transactions that we were rated for by Moody's a bunch of those transactions were other local governments or boards
of eds, North Haldden comes to mind, the Wayne school district comes to mind where they're using our credit rating because it's going to save them money. So, not only are we saving money on our own projects, but we're also providing a tool to our school districts and to our municipalities where they can do projects cheaper because they're using
our credit rating. Oh, there's anything that the experts think to me want to add to that. Then my second question is pertaining to our partnerships with uh state and federal for our park systems. Explain how that benefits us and the residents of
>> Yeah, listen uh like like Tim said we we have a strong track record of in investing in the P County park system um over the last 10 years. What is it 55 million Kelly? Over the last 10 years um Dundy Island is the one that jumps out at me. was a partnership uh with the
with the city of PAIC uh with the county and with the state of New Jersey. Um where we took what was a a vacant piece of property that was a homeless encampment where it was people doing drugs um and we did a $12 million park improvement project um and not only did we create a worldclass park facility, we
built it in a flood zone. So historically that eastside neighborhood had flooded and um we built in green infrastructure elements of that park. What we're seeing now, five years later, are flooding events that used to spill into residences and businesses um aren't
getting flooded like they were because our park is absorbing the water. Um so all of our projects, we're we're we're capitalizing and and finding um state and federal grant sources to help fund them. Um you know, Kelly can speak to a lot of what she's done in terms of
grants we've secured for our historic sites, too. We do use a variety of of grants and to speak from federal level down um with like Dundee Island Park and even now we are actively uh seeking federal funds
there there is the outdoor recreation legacy program that's offered by the national park that helps to fund you know urban parks, development of brand new parks, restoration of parks. So PT County has been very fortunate to be part of that program uh in years past and we continue to partner with the park
that way. Um and then from the state level, especially on the historic preservation, actually both historic preservation and with green acres, um historic preservation alone, we've seen $7.5 million from the state office to historic sites and probably well over 10
million from green acres funds both in acquisition, stewardship, and park development. I mean, Lamur Castle, the renovation wouldn't have been possible with about without the $6 million and and state and federal grants we were able to secure. And, you know, I'm proud that we were
the ones that went to the New Jersey Historic Trust and said, "It's great you're giving us this one-year grant, but what if we could stack these grants together and then we could couple it with county dollars and federal dollars and do this big project all at once?" and they were receptive to that, to their credit, amended their program that allowed us to group together three years
worth of funding um into one award, which then allowed us to adopt an ordinance like we've done with the um renovations that we're doing at the I want to call it the annex. What is it called? >> The customs house. >> The US customs house building next door.
>> All right. Thank you, director. >> Uh director through you. Um, what I would add to that, um, Matt, is that I just thinking over I I realize as I sit here, I'm I've been on this day longer than anybody else who's
present in the room. And I remember when we were getting a Green Acres grant every one or two or even three years, and now we're getting two and three of them each year. the investment of of effort that we're putting into bringing new resources in is really exceptional
across all of our units. Uh and I want to compliment this whole team on what you've put together. As you pointed out, Steve, this is a tough year um driven heavily by healthc care costs that are by no means unique to Pay County. But
I'm struck as I read this that even when we are saving resources, we're doing it in ways that are improving outcomes. Whether you're talking about the improved outcomes and decreased incarceration uh by closing our juvenile facility many years ago to the fact that
um you know when we're providing public health services, we're able to do it at scale for municipalities that would be able to provide less and yet it's costing them less. uh to to provide that through us. The way in which the jail closure uh enabled us to uh back, you
know, put out P County Sheriff's Department ambulances to backs stop the many towns like mine where those are volunteer services. Um so I just want to remark on how we're not just saving resources, we're doing it in ways, it's actually uh increasing services and
improving outcomes. I think one of the questions that we often hear uh particularly in years like this where the numbers look dire is what is this what what are these reserves? It was slide seven on in your in your uh
program but why are we setting aside you know or holding back or keeping uh so much money. It would be really helpful to hear from whoever the appropriate person is why having those reserves in place is is the fiscally prudent thing
to do and why uh you know it enables us to accomplish the other things we do without volatility. So, you know, those reserves are held in place. You know, they're not held in place. They're they're active. There's a lot of activity in them. And um when
when things get rough, those those reserves get hit. And I can tell you our health insurance fund last year was at $27 million. I pulled a net 19 uh $8 million out of that fund this year to cover health insurance cost. um without
that reserve, you know, we'd have to raise that full amount in this year's budget, plus we'd have to raise the health insurance premium line to to what it should be. So, it's almost like double taxation. So, you know, those reserves are are there for a purpose. Um
the same thing with the snow trust. I I mentioned this earlier, but you know, we ended the year with $4 million at the end of um 25. We're right now down to $1.9 million. So, you know, again, that's
money that would be in this budget, increasing taxes once again. So, you know, there's a lot of activity that goes on in those reserves. Um, we're self-insured, so, you know, we're we're mitigating the risk, right? Because we don't know what expenses are going to
come through, what judgments are going to come through, and and we're obligated and bound by those those judgments as they do come through. Listen, the big one I would point to is COVID, right? No one knew that a worldwide pandemic was coming. Um, but there's a
reason why county was one of the first counties to get a vaccination site, uh, a COVID testing site up and running. There's a reason why we were one of the first counties in New Jersey that got a vaccination site up and running. It was because we had these reserves and financial flexibility built in with that
and our fund balance to be able to respond. A lot of a lot of governments had to wait for the federal government to pass the CARES Act or or pass the AR funding and we didn't have to do that because we're prepared for emergencies. >> That's great. Thank you. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh I'm not even
going to touch Steve your presentation in reference to the unknown and the However, I like the way that we what we can control Matt. So my question is h how was the county able to
keep the wages and salaries down to only 1% increase? >> Yeah. So it's a variety of factors. Um you know oftentimes throughout the year you're going to have retirements, right? So you're going to have um higher earning employees retire and they're replaced by entry level attorney uh uh
attorneys uh employees. Um and it's also evaluating as those people retire, you know, do we need to fill this position? Can can we do this? Can we maintain the service without this job? So, you know, we're constantly looking at vacancies and having conversations with department heads of do you really need three
employees to do this? Can we do this with two employees? Um, and then it's partnering with our unions. Uh, we have 23 collective bargaining units. Um, I have great working relationships with all of those union leaders. Um, and it's about understanding where they're coming from and they understand where I'm
coming from. We both have jobs to do, right? So they're trying to get everything they can for their members and I'm trying to make sure that our budget is is fiscally sustainable in the long term. So it's about a mutual understanding and respect where we're working together where you know we're doing everything we can to to pay our
employees fair market rates. Um but also understanding that we live within a property tax cap and other fiscal restraints. >> I have a second question about our move program but I'll I'll call you like I always do in the morning. Yes, thank you for the presentation so
far. Um, going back to slide nine. How is the county preparing for continued uncertainty in federal and state funding? >> I can talk a little about that. So, our department heads could tell you we've been having them planning planning
what if you lose this grant? What if you lose the whole thing? What if you lose a quarter of it? What if you lose half? So, we've really went through that exercise with all of our departments and all of the grants and going through every single grant and saying, "What will you do? What's step one? What's
step two? And how can we maintain that level of service if we have that uncertainty and lose the funding?" It's tough, but we're ready. We're ready. >> Yeah. And, you know, listen, another buzz word, everyone's talking about AI and artificial intelligence, and we've been having a lot of conversations about how that can be integrated um into
county government to enhance services. Um, you know, we've done some of it on our website. Um, but just taking an all of the above approach in terms of what are outside the box solutions we can do here to to fill this gap where the federal government is failing.
>> Uh, director, may I through through you? Um, and I, you know, again, I I may be a little bit more privy to some of these conversations regarding the health, uh, at least the medical and prescription costs. sitting on the insurance board,
we see monthly the reports of the different um medical treatments and prescriptions that come through and and how the costs are rising and the different uh uses of those and and when we see like an increase in a rise in
like GLP um you know the weight loss drugs uh seeing other uh medical issues lower like diabetes and high blood pressure um you would think that we we start balancing um and see more savings, but
unfortunately we're not right because some of these newer drugs cost almost as much as those other treatable diseases. And um outside of like the diet plan that we put in place uh before these individuals
go into these GLP prescriptions, uh what what are some of the other measures taken to reduce some of these costs? Yeah. So, um I've directed uh the county's insurance consultant to um bring every and all solution to the table. So, we're having a lot of discussions with them. I know you've
been involved in some of them in your capacity as a member of the insurance commission. Um but we're going to look at everything um because you know these numbers are not sustainable. So, we need to figure out outside the box solutions to get these costs under control. Um on tonight is tonight's agenda, there's a
resolution um eliminating eligibility for non-union uh employees and retirees in our traditional plan. It's something I'm asking a lot of our unions to do and a lot of our unions have done that. Um and I think we need to lead by example on that, friend, because that traditional plan is a big uh cost driver
in our in our medical and prescription spend. Um and very preliminary, but you know, I'm starting a conversation with St. Joe's. Um, a lot of our claims uh are with St. Joe's um and a lot of other governments have been partnering with
major um medical establishments um you know in their communities to try and figure out ways of how can we incentivize our employees to go to St. Joe's but also how can we save money through that incentivizing. So we're taking an all of the above approach in terms of tackling this problem because
it's not going to be one thing it's going to be a series of things. Um and you know we just need to be open to to everything. >> Yeah. Thank you. And uh you know we did have extensive conversations in our last insurance board meeting on those measures that you just talked about. So
I want to commend you guys. I want to commend this team alto together. And as um Steve mentioned, you know, some of our neighboring counties and municipalities are facing double-digit uh tax increases. And I think for us to be where we are, it speaks to the, you
know, the fiscal responsibility uh or the importance of fiscal responsibility that the administration takes, but also my colleagues up here uh and ensuring uh that these all these procedures are put in place so that the county can continue to move forward uh despite rising costs,
but without uh decrease in workforce and services to the residents of P County. So, thank you. Anything else? >> Well, >> I have one question. >> Okay.
>> Slide 20. Did you have any more? >> So, we know about our shared service agreements with your municipalities here in P County. How are we going to work with those local partners to reduce taxes through these shared service
agreements? So, you know, it's happening in a variety of way ways. Um, you know, this afternoon I I hold quarterly um meetings with all of the local administrators and, you know, it's a it's a a roundt discussion and um you know, one of the
things a lot of the smaller towns are talking about is they're having trouble buying equipment. Can we partner to buy equipment? So, we're we're going to look at that. Um you know, it's harder for these towns to purchase bigger pieces of equipment. them. Maybe we can, you know, strike a deal where, you know, we play a
role in buying one piece of equipment that three towns can share um that maybe you don't need for everyday use. Um, you know, you're seeing our biggest growth in in in health services and, you know, may spoke extensively to why that's happening. I think a lot of towns
saw after COVID that, you know, you need a bigger health department with a a regional response. And a lot of these towns have two or three employees with a half a million dollar budget for for a health department. And, you know, they can save significant dollars contracting with us. They get the benefit of our 40
plus person department. Um, so it is it's it's a win-win in terms of saving money and but but increasing outcomes. That's it. Well, listen, I I want to just thank all of the commissioners. I mean, none of the work uh that we're doing is possible without all of your
support and guidance. And you know, I want to thank all of the department heads. Um you know, we are up here presenting this budget, but you know, it's all on the backs of the hard work they're all doing on the front lines every day. So, thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you all. Okay, we'll go back to a motion to suspend the regular business. Could I have a motion to suspend the regular order of business? >> So moved. Dour.
>> Second. >> Okay. Roll call. >> County Commissioners Bartlett. >> Yes. >> D'Voir. >> Yes. >> Maggalia. >> Yes. >> Tratz. >> Yes. >> Deputy director Cruz. >> Yes. Director Lazaro. >> Yes.
You want to read that into the record director? >> Justice? >> I I'll read it into the record. Um J1 resolution to exceed uh index rate pursuant to NJSA 4A 45
col 15. So moved. Second. Roll call. >> Okay. It was made by Bartlett and and seconded by >> Cruz. >> Cruz. >> County Commissioners Bartlett.
>> Yes. >> Yes. >> Magalia. >> Yes. >> Trz. >> Yes. >> Deputy Director Cruz. >> Yes. >> Director Lazera. >> Yes. A resolution introducing the P County budget for fiscal year 20 26 and
adopting the same on first reading in accordance with the requirements of the local p uh budget law. >> So moved second Bartlett and D'Vor >> Cruz second by Cruz. >> Uh county commissioners Bartlett. >> Yes.
>> D'vor. >> Yes. >> Vermaglia. >> Yes. >> Trz. >> Yes. >> Deputy director Cruz. >> Yes. Director Lazar. >> Yes. >> Um, director mayor read into the record the public notice uh calling for the public hearing of the cap resolution
which was J1 and the um Pay County budget for 2026 which was J2 on April uh 28th, 2026 at 5:30 here at 401 Grand Street.
>> Have a motion. Um there is no motion just as a as a FYI to the general public that there'll be a there'll be a public hearing on both the cap resolution and the budget >> J4 and director while while you're finding
it please here um before we vote on um where the commissioners vote on uh bond ordinance 20263 and 20264 just as a reminder this is our normal yearly um capital improvement bonds um for both equipment and facility improvements at P State County Community College. >> Thank you.
Bond ordinance 2026-03 bond ordinance to authorize the undertaking of various public improvements for the Bay County Community College in by and for the county of Bay State of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of $6,25,140
to pay the cost thereof to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriations and to provide for the issuance of of bond anticipation notes In anticipation of the issuance of such bonds, >> can I have a motion to open the public
hearing on bond bond ordinance 2026-3? >> So moved. D'Vor >> and Shratz. >> County Commissioners Bartlett. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Remagalia. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Deputy Director Cruz.
>> Yes. >> Director Lazaro, >> yes. Can I Does anyone present desire to be heard on bond ordinance 2026-03? >> Seeing no, we'll move to close. >> Second. >> Cruz and D'vor. >> County Commissioners Bartlett.
>> Yes. >> D'vor. >> Yes. >> Remagalia. Yes. >> Trz. Yes. >> Deputy Director Cruz. >> Yes. >> Director Lazaro. >> Yes. >> Move to adopt bond ordinance 2026-3. >> Second.
County Commissioners Bartlett, >> yes. >> Vore, >> yes. >> Remagalia, >> yes. >> Trz, >> yes. >> Deputy Director Cruz, >> yes. >> Director Lazar, >> yes. >> Um, okay. Uh, J5, uh, 2026. Oh. Um, uh,
sorry J6 bond ordinance 2026 authorizing um, bond ordinance to authorize the making of various public improvements and the acquisition of additional and replacement equipment and machinery. uh
new additional furnishings, new information technology, telecommunication equipment, and new automative vehicles including original apparatus and equipment for Bisay County Community College in by and for the B uh
for County of Bisay State of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of 2 million 571,18 to pay for the cost thereof to authorize the issuance of bonds uh to finance such appropriations and to provide for the issuance of bond
anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds. I have a motion to open the public hearing on bond ordinance 2026-04. >> So moved. >> Second. >> D'vor Cruz.
>> County Commissioners Bartlett. >> Yes. >> D'Voir, >> yes. >> Remagalia, >> yes. >> Trz, >> yes. >> Deputy Director Cruz, >> yes. >> Director Lazara, >> yes. >> Does anyone present desire to be heard on bond ordinance 2026-04? Seeing no one at the podium, I move to
close. >> Second. >> Cruz and D'vor. >> County Commissioners Bartlett. Yes. D'Vor, >> yes. >> Remagalia, >> yes. >> Stratz, >> Deputy Director Cruz, >> yes. >> Director Lazar, >> yes. Can I have a motion to adopt bond
ordinance 2026-04? >> So moved. Second. >> Cruz and D'Vor. >> County Commissioners Bartlett. Yes. D'vor. >> Yes. >> Maggalia. Yes. >> Trz. Deputy director Cruz. Yes. >> Director Lazaro. >> Yes. Could I have a motion to res resume
the net regular order of business? >> So moved. >> Second. >> D'vor and Cruz. >> County Commissioners Bartlett. >> Yes. >> D'vor. >> Yes. >> Magalia. >> Yes. >> Stratz. >> Yes. >> Deputy Director Cruz. >> Yes. >> Director Lazaro. >> Yes.
>> Uh county commissioner reports. I don't have anything. Uh if I may, director, just there's a lot of important items on this agenda that we are going to uh ultimately pass when we go through the consent agenda, but I just want to turn my colleagues attention to number 13.
And as the chair of public works, let me be the first to officially welcome Rich Mau as our new uh superintendent of buildings and grounds. Uh we want to congratulate you in advance and wish you all the success. We are here to support your efforts. That's all I have. Director,
>> Commissioner Bartlett, >> um, just very briefly, we mentioned at the at the start, but I've had the privilege of being all over the state and particularly our region. And, uh, to a person, the community college leaders of our neighboring counties spoke of
Steve Rose as the dean of that group of people. and uh his uh his loss will be felt across the state and by his academic colleagues for a long time. >> Thank you, Commissioner D'vor. >> As a member of the public works
department, I also want to congratulate Rich. Also want to congratulate the other women that we we uh celebrated today and happy women's month of March as we end. Continue to be blessed. >> Thank you. Uh, Commissioner Remaglia.
>> Uh, no report director. >> Commissioner Schz. >> Okay. Thank you. Have a motion to open up the um public portion of the meeting. >> Second. >> Uh, Stratz and Cruz.
Anybody wishing to be heard? >> Seeing no one at the podium, I move to close. >> Just give me one second there. >> Um, county commissioners Bartlett. Yes. Favor. >> Yes. >> Maggalia. Yes. >> Tratz. Yes. >> Deputy Director Cruz. >> Yes. >> Director Lazar. >> Yes.
>> Seeing no one at the podium, I move to close the public portion. >> Second. >> Cruz and D'vor. >> County Commissioners Bartlett. >> Yes. >> D'Vor. >> Yes. >> For Maggalia. >> Yes. >> Stratz. >> Deputy Director Cruz. >> Yes. >> Rectazar. >> Yes.
>> Okay. Um to Oh. Sorry. Okay. Have a a motion to vote on 01 and O2.
>> Some moved. >> Second. >> County Commissioners Bartlett. >> Yes. >> D'vor. >> Yes. >> Remagalia. >> Yes. >> Stratz. >> Yes. >> Deputy director Cruz. >> Yes. >> Uh Director Lazar. >> Yes. >> Okay. Okay. Do we have anything on the
consent agenda that we need to remove, put on, whatever? >> Yes, director through you. We have one late starter. This is resolution P 48 that I'd like to add to the consent agenda. It is a It's a resolution rejecting all bids received for 495
River Street HVAC and roof replacement projects in the city of Patterson per bid C-26008 pursuant to NJSA48 11-13.2D set. >> Can I have a motion to add P48 to the
current the consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Second and Bartlett. County Commissioners Bartlett, yes. D'vor, yes. Maggalia, yes. Trz, yes. >> Deputy Director Cruz, yes. >> Director Lazar, >> yes.
>> Can I have a motion to vote on the consent agenda P1 through P48? >> So moved. >> Second. >> D'Vor and Remaglia. >> County Commissioners Bartlett. >> Yes. >> D'vor. >> Yes. >> Remagia. >> Yes. >> Stratz.
>> Yes. >> Deputy Director Cruz. >> Yes. Lazar. >> Yes. >> The director, if I could, I I just want to now that it's official, congratulate Rick. We've we ran uh I'm proud that we ran a very open and competitive process
to to fill Steve's very big shoes. I see that he's here. Thank you uh for joining us, Mr. Rossini. Um I want to thank Daryl Sparta uh who sat in on the interviews, the former administrator, uh Tim and Mave on my staff. Um you know, he really distinguished himself throughout the interview process and I
know he's going to do a great job. So, congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Um, can I have a motion to move the personnel agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay. >> County County Commissioners Bartlett, >> yes. >> D'vor, >> yes.
>> Magalia, yes. >> Trz, yes. >> Deputy Director Cruz, >> yes. >> Director Lozara, >> yes. Can I have a motion to move the bills? >> Move the bills. Second. >> Cruz and Bartlett. County Commissioners Bartlett, yes. D'vor, yes. >> Maggalia, yes. Ratz,
>> yes. >> Deputy Director Cruz, yes. >> Director, >> yes. >> I have a motion to adjourn. >> So moved. >> And Cruz, >> county commissioners Bartlett, >> yes. >> War, >> yes. >> Magalia, >> yes. >> Trz, >> yes.
>> Deputy Director Cruz, >> yes. >> Director, >> yes. Thank you everyone.