Mayor Defends Use of Sewer Surplus As Council Candidate Demands Money Be Returned

Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council candidate Roy Messmer is working on another campaign: At Tuesday's council meeting, he plans to present a petition, calling on Mayor James Barberio to return surplus sewer fees to ratepayers. 

Messmer's complaint concerns $5.3 million that made up the sewer utility fund. The mayor took $700,000 from the fund and used it to reduce the municipal tax levy by 1.6 percent. An additional $1.6 million went toward the refurbishing of Parsippany's sewer treatment plant. The remaining approximately $3.1 million that remains is considered surplus.

According to Messmer, this is unacceptable. 

"The mayor had no right to play fast and loose with our money," he said. "He needs to return that $700,000 and return $3.6 million—the surplus—back to the taxpayers."

By Messmer's calculations, that would leave about $1.7 million in the sewer fund, the same amount that was in the account in 2009, when the rebuilding of the sewer treatment plant began.

Barberio says Messmer is off base.

"We have $3.1 million excess in the sewer utility surplus right now. That's what we're left with after reducing the tax levy and funding the sewer plant refurbishment," he said. "If we were to give what's left back, we would be running at a deficit. By state law, if we have a deficit, we have to increase the sewer fees. I don't want to do that."

Barberio said the treatment plant is in the midst of a "major, major renovation."

"Between 1995 and 2005, there was really no maintaining of the facility, and it was running at a deficit. The surplus was less than $50,000," the mayor said. "In 2006, as a result, the town had to increase the sewer-user fee by 52 percent. The state wouldn't allow a deficit, so there was no choice.

"Now we have a major renovation going on," he explained. "Giving the surplus back would risk a large sewer increase. It would endanger Parsippany's credit rating as well."

Messmer doesn't buy that argument. 

"It's nothing but a scare tactic. It's smoke and mirrors," he said. "The mayor is using gimmicky accounting to make it appear that he's doing something responsible. He isn't.

"That money rightly belongs to the ratepayers," Messmer said, adding that a refund would put about $114 into citizens' pockets. "Instead, he's using our sewer charges—which are not tax deductible—to go into the general fund. Well, when we pay taxes that go into the general fund, they are tax deductible. Taxpayers are losing money on this deal."

"Mr. Messmer is absolutely incorrect. It's not a scare tactic, it's a fact," Barberio countered. "If you give back the surplus now, taxes will increase another 1.6 percent [bringing the 2011 increase to 5.3 percent]. That's a fact."

He added that he is still seeking a way to make sewer fees deductible.

The mayor pointed out that prior to the renovation project, the sewer treatment plant was inefficient and out of date, creating inordinately high utility fees for ratepayers. He said the refurbishment effort will turn the plant into a state of the art facility. Upon completion—scheduled for April 2012—Barberio said the plant will run much more efficiently.

"We're talking an energy reduction of from 60 to 67 percent," the mayor said. "When the project is completed, I'm going to make every effort to give the surplus back to the residents and decrease sewer rates significantly. But [to deplete] the sewer fund now—before the renovation is done—would be ill-advised and irresponsible."

He added that by using the $700,000 in sewer funds to cut the municipal tax levy by 1.6 percent, "I gave the residents back their money."

The disagreement between the two men turned into a duel of sorts when the mayor and town council candidate recently promoted their differing points of view from separate tables outside of the Municipal Building.

"I heard he had a table out there [to collect petition signatures], so I went out there with him," Barberio said. "Not one person signed that petition while I was out there. That's because I explained to them the facts. And they said, 'Mayor, now we understand. Thank you.'"

From his table, Barberio distributed a letter in which he recounted his reasons for his actions regarding the sewer surplus.

For his part, Messmer said his petition already had hundreds of signatures.

"I will present them before the Town Council at the next meeting," he said. "Someone's got to stand for the people. They're playing around with money that is rightfully ours. It's time the administration gave it back to us."

The Town Council is expected to vote on Barberio's proposed $61.6 million budget Tuesday night and approve the allocation of nearly $900,000 to pay retiring employees for unused sick and vacation time, according to the Daily Record.