If you want to send an email to the Town Council about the proposed 7% increase in municipal taxes, but don't know what to writehere are some items you can consider including:

1. How long you have lived in Montclair and how much your property taxes have gone up in that period?

2 Has the value of your home increased or decreased during that time and by how much?

3. Why hasn't the 2011 budget process been transparent, as was promised?

4. Why doesn't the Town Manager show us, the residents of Montclair, what a 0% prop. tax increase would look like? Give the town choices. What does 3.5% increase look like? Identify areas that can be cut, and tell us by how much. To tell us that 0% would be a doomsday scenario, without any hard numbers to back it up, leads people to believe that either 1) it really isn't a doomsday scenario or 2) the Town Manager doesn't want to or cannot do the work to show a 0% budget to the citizenry of Montclair. Ask the town to follow the lead of the Board of Education.

To learn more about "Montclair Municipal Spending-Where Does the Money Go?" click on the CCM Newsletter dated Jan. 20, 2011 found at the far left column of this page.

What has CCM accomplished to date?

1. Created Awareness: CCM formed in September 2010, when the 2010 budget still had not passed and an 8.6% increase in municipal taxes was on the table. Since that time, CCM has grown to over 300 members and created awareness in the town as to the irresponsible and non-transparent budget process that took place in 2010. One of our goals is to not let this happen again in 2011.

Since October 2010, CCM has placed four half page ads in the Montclair Times outlining, among other things, the Montclair taxpayer's increasing tax burden. Our ads have also highlighted property tax increases in surrounding towns compared to Montclair.

We have launched a website (www.concernedcitizensofmontclair.com) that provides details of Montclair's municipal finances that CCM has compiled.

2. Formed Operating Budget Advisory Committee: After the 2010 budget crisis, CCM urged the Town Council to reinstate the dormant Operating Budget Advisory Committee. The committee was reinstated and nine Montclair residents were appointed to the committee. CCM sent an email in November 2010 asking members, if they were inclined to do so, to apply for a spot on this committee. Several members of OBAC are members of CCM. Mayor Fried, reached out to CCM and asked us to please reach out to our members to sit on this Advisory Committee.

3. Met with Town Manager, Town Council and Town CFO: Members of CCM have met with the Town Manager, Town Council and CFO to ask for financial information on numerous occasions. We have been given very "spotty" information. Not the type of financial information we expect and not the type of information that is needed for CCM members to do detailed analysis on the various departments or overall Town budget. This information was promised to us as a show of transparency with the 2011 budget, after the 2010 Municipal Budget was passed. This process has been very successful with the Board of Education.

What cuts is CCM proposing?

The Operating Budget Advisory Committee, (OBAC) was formed with the purpose of analyzing budget data and making recommendations to the Town Council. OBAC continues to ask for information. It is difficult to make any serious recommendation for cutting expenses, when there isn't any detailed financial information to that can be used.

The town does not seem able to provide the information necessary for OBAC to fulfill the original mandate it received from the Town Council. This begs the question as to whether the town was serious about having residents help with the budget process or the creation of OBAC was only to placate angry residents.

Can the Mayor and the Town Council be recalled?

There is a process to recall the Mayor and the Town Council. CCM researched this option in 2010, but elected not to go forward with a recall for several reasons. First, a recall is a huge undertaking that would require hundreds of hours of manpower and several thousands of dollars to be effective. Many people would need to volunteer to go door to door to get signatures to sign a recall petition. To look like it was a serious effort, T-shirts would need to be made, pens, pencils, hats, etc. Secondly, we would need to get 25% of all registered voters in Montclair to sign the petition. This would be around 3,000-4,000 signatures. Thirdly, if we got the the required signatures, then there would be a recall election and people would have to run against the Mayor and Town Council and hopefully win.

What can I do to help?

1. Attend Town Council meetings: The Town Council needs to see and hear residents' concerns and frustration! A group of 30 people at a town council meeting saying that a 7% increase is unacceptable is very powerful. To date, residents' attendance at town council meetings has been sparse. The next Town Council meeting is Tuesday, March 8th at 8pm. There is always time scheduled for public comment. Please let CCM know that you will attend and we will send out emails that people are coming (not specific names, but the number of people that say they are attending). This will build momentum and more will come.

2. Email the Town Council: Continue to email the Town Council and tell them that 7% is unacceptable. When the Mayor replies to you and asks what you think should be cut, tell him you don't know, because the town's budget process is not transparent and you don't have any financial information to make serious recommendations.

3. Forward any information or news items that are relevant: We are looking to post on Facebook daily. If you have any information that would be appropriate to post, please send it our way (PLEASE DO NOT SEND WHOLE NEWSPAPER ARTICLES!). We are looking for one to two sentence items that people will read.