OCEAN CITY — Ocean City Council approved its $113 million budget Thursday, but not before a lengthy dissent from Councilman Tom Rotondi.
The Second Ward councilman said they can do better cutting the budget, which carries a tax rate hike of 3.7 cents per $100.
Rotondi, who did not seek a second term in office in Tuesday’s municipal election, said they should focus on staff positions.
He said one of his biggest concerns is salaries and pensions and although council complains there isn’t much they can do about those costs, they actually can — by cutting or combining positions.
The councilman’s comments came after the public comment portion of the meeting, during which island resident Dave Hayes criticized the proposed budget and its tax hike, saying councilmen would wring their hands and complain there is nothing they can do with all the fixed costs in the budget.
“Let’s get real,” Hayes said. “Families across the island are coping with the ravages of a failed economy and incomes gutted by inflation. If we have to tighten our belts to live within our budgets, the city should have to do the same.”
Hayes said the administration has to cut back on staff and programs and be fiscally responsible.
Rotondi said everywhere else in the world, including industry, is making do with a lot fewer people and being more efficient, and the resort has just as many employees now as it did 15 years ago.
“It’s been thrown in my face a couple of times that we’re not Avalon,” he said. “(Mayor) Marty Pagliughi was there for 36 years and he walked out of there with zero debt. He did a pretty good job. The challenge I have is some of the positions. I think Ocean City is better than almost any town in Cape May County. I think the services we have are phenomenal, but in Avalon, every person has two jobs.”
He noted in Avalon there is one person who performs the duties that in Ocean City are handled by five different people with a cost of a half-million dollars.
“I think our professionals are amazing. You can’t beat Frank (Donato) or George (Savastano),” he said, referring to the resort’s chief financial officer and business administrator, respectively. “Go up and down the Jersey shore, you’re not going to find a better team.
“But it’s doing more with less and I think we could do it. I have a challenge when I look at the payroll and I see some bumps that are like, why did that happen?, and I question those things.
“We have to get serious at looking at each individual job and how we’re doing them because that’s the only way going forward we’re going to cut the budget,” Rotondi said, adding that pensions and benefits combined with health care benefits are crushing towns all over the country.
“I know this is not popular to say and I’ve said it behind the scenes — new hires going forward shouldn’t get retirement benefits for life. We have Medicare, probably the best program in the country for senior citizens when it comes to health care,” Rotondi said. “There are towns who have more people on their health care who are retired than are actually working. It’s tough and tough decisions have to be made,” he continued.
Rotondi said government is the worst form of business because it’s a monopoly. “No one can stop us. It’s run by people who want to get re-elected,” he said, with constituents who are asking for various programs and services.
Councilman Jody Levchuk said he agreed with Rotondi and there is “room for improvement,” but there are aspects they can’t control and that over this campaign season, out knocking on doors, he heard a lot of concerns, but not about taxes.
“I have no reason to oppose this,” he said about the budget.
“Nobody likes increases. I understand that, but I think the administration does their homework and does it thoroughly,” Councilman John “Tony P” Polcini said. “I live here, too. Nobody wants a hike but if we want to live in a safe, beautiful town, things happen and we have to do what’s best. I believe in the administration and that they’re doing the best they can, so I’m all for it as well.”
Mayor Jay Gillian said the city does try to use more part-timers and that people in the administration, including Donato and mayoral aide Michael Allegretto, push back hard whenever the city considers hiring a new full-time person.
“All things you’ve asked of us, we’ve implemented,” Gillian said. “We’re doing the best we can but we absolutely can do better, especially in this time.”
Rotondi provided the lone vote against the budget. Levchuk, Polcini, Dave Winslow, Terry Crowley Jr. and Council President Pete Madden voted in favor.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff