Yes...now I recall...remember the person I wrote about who got fired for accidentally spending a $1.00 on ice, because he sympathized with union workers and citizens who were against privatizing the library?

Well, after that person got fired, he went to Degise for help in trying to get his job back. Degise told him he couldn't help him. But yet the library/city made a million Dollar contract that tax payers ended up paying for even after the citizens won the fight against it. Millions...

I don't trust this guy.

Good news in bad times
DeGise says county is holding its own

by Al Sullivan
Hudson Reporter

MAKING IT WORK ? Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise said times are hard, but the county is doing its best to keep the county?s finances stable.

The old adage that when life hands you lemons, you should make lemonade pertains very much to the state of the county this year as county officials hunker down in bad economic times.

In comments during his State of the County address given last month, County Executive Tom DeGise emphasized practical ways the county is coping with the conditions of the current economy.

By nearly every standard imaginable, 2009 was an incredibly bad economic year, not just for the county, but for the state, nation, and world. Considering just how bad things were for so many people, Hudson County was impacted less than others. This is not to say things were good for everybody.
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?We have very solid budgets that do not depend on one-shot revenues.? ? Tom DeGise
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?Nationally, unemployment stands at 10 percent. Statewide, unemployment has climbed from 5.7 percent to 10.1 percent in 13 months,? DeGise said in his Jan. 28 speech. ?In Hudson County and the surrounding metropolitan region, the jobless rate is 9.1 percent?the highest in nearly two decades. Over the last year, real estate prices sank, foreclosures soared and the economy [came] to a standstill.?

In past speeches, DeGise usually highlighted some initiative such as the establishing of the Open Space Trust, summer youth employment, the establishment of a new North Hudson Campus for the county college, or even a 10-year plan to eradicate chronic homelessness. This year, he focused on nuts and bolts of surviving the tough economy.

?Instead of lofty goals and new programs, we offer a sober assessment of the fiscal challenges we face as a result of the continued economic storm,? he said in his speech.

Non-tax revenues have been declining since 2005 ? such as annual revenues from the Registar?s Office, which dropped to $8.5 million or about 56 percent. That office offers documents such as deeds and certificates.

Investment revenues and interest on deposits dropped $2.8 million or about 83 percent over the last five years. Fixed costs for pensions, healthcare, and aid to the disadvantaged jumped by similar rates during the same period. Police and fire pension costs rose by 800 percent and healthcare by 35 percent. The county modified the impact of healthcare costs by offering an incentive program and requiring that employees pay into their healthcare for a savings of about $1 million a year.

?Eventually, all employees will be asked to contribute to their coverage, saving millions more,? he said.

Welfare costs over the last five years rose from $9.2 million to $12.9 million, an increase of $3.7 million.

Improvements done

Yet despite these financial challenges, DeGise said the county still managed to invest in its municipalities through grants, the county capital budget, and the open space trust. Parks in Union City, Jersey City, Bayonne, Secaucus, North Bergen, Hoboken and western Hudson County all saw improvements over the last year ? including improvements to playgrounds, fencing, restrooms, sports courts and fields, and other changes.

Even as costs rose and revenues declined over the last five years, the county managed to provide more than $437 million in open space funds.

The county also managed to move ahead with more than $17 million in road, bridge and traffic improvements throughout the county, winning funds from state and federal sources to ease the cost burden on taxpayers.

Projects to come

This year, the county will move ahead with $63.5 million in new infrastructure projects, highlighted by the $43.6 million 14th Street Viaduct replacement in Hoboken and Union City, the $4.2 million 32nd Street Pedestrian Crossing in North Bergen and Union City, the $4.2 million Weehawken Cove segment of Hudson River Walkway in Hoboken and Weehawken, and the $1.1 million 49th Street Pedestrian Crossing connecting the Community College with the Light Rail?s Bergenline Station in Union City.

?And this administration remains determined to employ whatever tools we have at our disposal to leverage economic development through infrastructure investment in Hudson County,? he said, noting also that the Hudson County Improvement Authority has been very active in promoting economic development in the county.

The county has also seen successes in security preparation, meeting compliance for the jail, and in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and continues its fight against homelessness with the construction of new affordable housing.

?Our common sense management approach has significantly improved our standing in the bond market,? he said. ?Hudson County offered to utilize its strong credit rating in the municipal bond market to help Bayonne, Harrison, Hoboken, Jersey City, West New York and Weehawken borrow at significantly lower interest rates.?

In an interview later, DeGise said his speech was about ?doing more with less.?

?We have been aggressive in finding non-tax revenue from the state and federal governments,? he said, noting that costs have been reduced by joining with other counties for shared services.

But he said the impact of the bad times on the county is less because the county was better prepared.

?We have very solid budgets that do not depend on one-shot revenues,? he said. ?This has allowed us to deal with situations and not fall off a cliff when hard times come.?

But the new year is not without new initiatives, and the county is moving ahead with two very significant educational projects, funding the new community college campus in West New York/Union City and seeking approval for the new combined Hudson County Schools of Technology that will be located in Secaucus. The conversion of Warehouse 77 in Kearny will also provide the county with an operations center for needed services. Work continues to move ahead with the development of the new golf course on the west side of Jersey City.

County property near the Witpenn Bridge in Jersey City ? about 130 acres ? may prove a significant additional revenue source as the county negotiates with New Jersey Transit for the sale.

?The reason we chose a more number-filled, dry speech is because we wanted people to understand running government this size is never easy,? he said. ?These are very difficult times, but we are proud of what we?ve done here.?