Town concerned about loss of federal funding

BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — Proposed cuts and changes in the federal budget have township officials worried long-standing township services will be affected.

Mayor William Neary said he is concerned a new federal budget proposed by President George W. Bush will cut programs East Brunswick has used extensively, including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which has brought almost $1 million to the town. Also being proposed for a cut is a federally funded police program that contributes to the salaries of three police officers and school resource officers.

Neary said the township has received about $911,000 in CDBG money since 1995 and the money has been used for a variety of endeavors. Among the uses were improvements to low-income apartments, improvements to make places such as municipal buildings, parks and the public library more accessible to people with disabilities, and for historic preservation endeavors.

Regardless of whether the proposed cuts see the light of day, East Brunswick will still receive the roughly $126,000 of CDBG money it has been promised for this year.

By 2006, however, the town could be completely cut off from that program.

“They want to turn it into economic development for really distressed towns, not ours,” Neary said.

The town also receives more than $100,000 a year to use toward the salaries of three police officers and school resource officers, but that money is also in jeopardy. While the $100,000 does not cover the entire cost of those employees, it does go “a long way,” Neary said.

Also at risk is the Transportation Trust Fund, which has provided money for improvements to Fresh Ponds Road and Tices Lane. The bike path along Ryders Lane was also funded by the program. Neary said the path would not exist without the funding.

“I don’t think I would have ever supported the bike path along Ryders Lane if [East Brunswick] taxpayers had to pay for it,” he said.

The programs have been funded by the federal government through the state, he said, although money for the bike path came directly from the federal government.

Though property taxes do produce a significant amount of revenue, “a lot of our revenue source does not come from the property tax,” the mayor said.

Council President David Stahl noted that the state budget affects the township as well. And from he what can tell, state aid to East Brunswick will not increase this year.

“It’s going to be a tough year, no doubt,” he said.

Neary expected that the council would pass a resolution opposing the cuts and changes to federal programs that affect towns such as East Brunswick.

“We may not be able to provide these [services] without resources such as CDBG program,”he said.

Betty R. Reba, the township’s housing specialist, said she too has been made aware the CDBG program could be eliminated.

“There is real serious concern about that,” she said.

Already, the township will be receiving less this year than it expected. Reba said East Brunswick was first expected to receive nearly $140,000 this year, but a 10-percent cut was made.

Though the $125,000 may seem like a large sum, the township received over $300,000 in requests for the money this year, Reba said. The requests are from various township groups and non-profits. In past years the CDBG monies have gone to the East Brunswick Public Library, senior center, historic district and other local entities, she said. Much of the money has been used to make ADA improvements.

A citizens’ advisory council reviews the requests and decides who it feels the money should go to, Reba said. It then presents its recommendations to the Township Council, which reviews them and makes the final decisions.

Reba said the CDBG funding originates with the federal Housing and Urban Development Agency (HUD), which allocates blocks of money to participating jurisdictions. Some towns in Middlesex County receive CDBG monies directly from the federal government, while others, such as East Brunswick, get the money through the county. The federal government decides how much money to give, but not how it will be spent.

“Towns like East Brunswick have joined together in an urban consortium and we are sub-grantees of the county,” Reba said.

Some of the money is used for administrative costs; some is for county-wide housing rehabilitation projects; and a portion goes into a discretionary pot, she said.

“A lot of nonprofits have been funded through this discretionary pot,” she said.

The citizens’ committee is made up of representatives of various groups that could receive CDBG grants.

Reba sends out requests each year to groups that may be interested in applying for the funds.

“We always get requests for more money than we have,” she noted.

Among the approximately two dozen projects that in the past have benefited from CDBG funds are the rehabilitation of the Victory Gardens Apartments and other housing facilities; sidewalks and curbing in the township’s historic district; DeVoe Library rehabilitation; creation of a tot lot; construction and addition at Senior Center; expansion of Camp Daisy; purchase of Senior Center vehicles.