Passaic County Freeholder Terry Duffy said he felt pressured to support a $10 million budget fix because of the county counsel's warning in December of possible criminal charges and a government shutdown.
But exactly what County Counsel William Pascrell III said at the Dec. 11 closed-door meeting is disputed among the freeholders. Meanwhile, Pascrell won't release transcripts and recordings of the meeting, citing attorney-client privilege.
County taxpayers will have to pay back the $10 million, plus interest, in the 2008 tax levy, which has been projected to increase about $25 million. Average cost per property owner will be known when the county's 2008 budget is introduced on March 11.
Duffy said he originally intended to vote against the resolution to borrow $10 million to replace revenue expected from the failed golf course sale. Duffy's opposition would have killed the measure.
But Duffy changed his mind after Pascrell's warnings of possible criminal charges and a likely government shutdown.
"I recall being told that we really don't have a choice," Duffy said in a recent interview. "Bottom line was that we'd be skirting our obligations. We really had no recourse. It was mandated actually from the [state] Local Finance Board director. I'm not here to violate the law."
The measure passed in a 5-2 vote, with Freeholders James Gallagher and Bruce James dissenting. The state's Local Budget Law requires a two-third majority of the seven-member board on emergency appropriations.
Other freeholders described the closed discussion as "intense" and "very heated," but no one else contacted on Monday recalled Pascrell advising that they were on the verge of committing a crime.
"I presented an alternative," Gallagher said, "staff reductions."
Freeholder Elease Evans said she distinctly remembered the possibility of county government closing.
"If it didn't go through, we had no alternative," said Evans, who was freeholder director at the time. "What else would we do other than close the doors?"
Earlier in December, a state appeals court had blocked sale of the county golf course, leaving a $10 million gap in the 2007 county budget. The freeholders' agenda on Dec. 11 indicated that the $10 million appropriation was ordered by state Division of Local Government Services. The $10 million was raised through short-term borrowing that must be paid back this year, with interest, with county taxes.
Pascrell would not comment Monday on whether he advised the freeholders that rejecting the resolution was a crime because the closed session was protected by attorney-client privilege. He repeated a statement he made that the memo from the Division of Local Government Services was tantamount to a court order.
"It's an administrative determination by the executive branch [of state government] for the freeholders," Pascrell said. "The agency was responding to the appellate decision and they were directing the freeholders to act. Had they not acted they would have suffered the consequences."
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