Stanhope's budget considerations should be long term, officials say

STANHOPE — It’s budget time and Stanhope, like all municipalities needs to gets all its ducks in a row. On Tuesday night Stanhope’s Chief Financial Officer Joe Kovalcik told the borough council the steps he is taking to keep the borough’s financial department organized. Kovalcik, a full-time employee of Morris County, took over the part-time CFO position in May. He is running monthly finance department meetings to keep the tax officials and finance personnel on the same page in terms of the budget. Kovalcik has an assistant, Richard Vitale, who started September 26 and is also working part-time. Kovalcik explained originally the CFO position was full-time and he felt having two part-timers on board was a sensible decision. He said they work closely with tax collector Kunjesh Trivedi who is a full-time employee who also handles escrow and purchasing matters for the borough. Some of the points Kovalcik reported to the council included establishing a fund for reimbursement of unused vacation and sick days when employees retire. He said a number of municipalities have faced major payouts when employees have retired with lots of unused sick and vacation days. At times, municipalities have had to pay the former employees over a number of years and include interest. Mayor Diana Kuncken pointed out that certain items, such as road salt and fuel fluctuate rapidly fluctuate in price. Kovalcik noted that cooperatives can be particularly helpful in those cases. As a cost-saving, Stanhope contracts services for its health department from Sparta Township. Council member Michael Vance said the Board of Health will discuss next year’s contract at their November meeting. He said only Sparta and Sussex County bid on the service. Requests for proposals were sent to Mount Olive Township in Morris County and Hopatcong Borough and Vernon Township in Sussex County as well, but they choose not to bid. In other business, council member James Benson reported he, the mayor and Land Use Board chair John Maguire attended a Tri-County League of Municipalities meeting to discuss the current round of Council On Affordable Housing housing mandates. Stanhope is being considered for transitional and supportive housing. Kuncken noted in these types of housing credit is given per bedroom which makes it easier for a municipality to achieve its Council on Affordable Housing commitment. She noted Stanhope has had great success working with not-for-profit groups. The latest may be Habitat for Humanity which is considering a parcel of land in the borough.