Closter — The council is hoping that discontinuing a municipal alliance grant will save the borough administrative costs while continuing the services the grant provided.
Such programs afforded by last year’s grant of $14,000 included speaking engagements about the risks of substance abuse that took place at the high school and for senior citizens.
In a memo from Mayor Sophie Heymann distributed to council members at the council meeting Feb. 13, Heymann estimated that accepting the grant for 2008 would result in administrative costs totaling $11,700. She said a conservative estimate of the salary expenses of administering the grant amounts to $2,000. In addition, she said the grant costs the borough $2,875 in matching grants and "$6,825 in in-kind costs, including volunteer time and facilities use."
This would cost the borough more than the allotted $11,500, which the grant would provide for 2008.
However, Police Chief David Berrian questioned the salary figure, saying he estimates the costs do not exceed "$600 or thereabouts." Leslie Weatherlie puts hours into preparing the grant paperwork, he said, and is rewarded with compensatory time. However, he said there are other costs of managing the grant and "making the program come to fruition" that may go beyond Weatherlie’s scope.
Borough Administrator John DiStefano said considering the hourly salary and the amount of time spent working on the grant, that expense equates to $2,000.
Heymann said the bulk of the in-kind cost estimate comes from the amount a facility would charge to be rented. In-kind costs are a grant requirement in which the borough assigns a dollar amount to the expense it incurs by bringing the programs to fruition. Although the borough is ultimately reimbursed, it would have to lay out the money up front, an estimated $6,825 for 2008, explained Heymann.
In the memo, Heymann says allocating $3,000 out of the 2008 budget to continue the programs the grant would have funded, will save the borough "a few hundred dollars." These programs include such initiatives as substance abuse literature, bullying education at Closter schools, educating seniors through "Defining Moments" foundation and funding Project Graduation at NVRHS.
Councilman David Barad said the move will yield savings as borough employees spend their time doing tasks other than administering the grant.
"If someone is filing a report it takes time away from other things they could do," said Barad, adding that the reporting mandated by the grant required too much effort considering the amount of money it provided.
"We want to maintain the programs but be able to conserve the effort the borough is spending to try to achieve these goals," he said.
DiStefano stressed that discontinuation of the grant is temporary.
"We will be rewriting the grant with the help of Marla Klein who administers the municipal alliance. We want to change some of the programs and…she offered to rewrite that to meet what we want to do," he said.
