Assemblymen John Allen (D-32) and Julio Marenco (D-33) are working on a bill that would give the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) financial oversight over North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The bill, which hasn’t been introduced yet, would require NHRFR to submit annual budgets and audits to the DCA, something that is already common practice for New Jersey fire departments.
Guttenberg Mayor Wayne Zitt, who filed a lawsuit to exit the department in August and is now tentatively planning to form a new fire department with North Bergen, as HCV first reported, said he took the initiative to advocate for the bill.
“I am hopeful a New Jersey Assembly bill will soon be introduced and passed so that five member towns’ taxpayers are treated fairly and equally. I requested this numerous times during my tenure as mayor,” he said in a statement.
“With no oversight, the NHRFR’s finances are setup to especially benefit towns with huge development projects such as Weehawken and West New York who are avoiding paying their fair share to fund the department. This creates excessive costs for the taxpayers of Guttenberg.”
Marenco said this afternoon that the bill is another step for ensuring good, transparent government.
“Mayor Zitt is correct that establishing robust oversight of our regional fire department’s finances is vital to maintaining public trust and ensuring that our fire services operate efficiently and effectively,” he said in a statement.
“This legislation reaffirms our collective commitment to good government and the responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars, benefiting not only the five towns in the North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue, but all New Jersey taxpayers by creating more transparency and accountability in how funds are managed.”
NHRFR, now in operations for about 25 years, has consistently used the same financial formula for divvying up annual monetary contributions from municipalities for its current annual budget of about $78 million, the mayor added.
According to Zitt, the antiquated tax formula has allowed Weehawken and West New York to avoid the inclusion of a total of almost $1.2 billion ratables in 2023 alone for a slew of major developments that have payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements.
He also exclaimed that “inadequate funding” could lead to dangerous situations in the foreseeable future.
“In recent years, there have been manpower shortages at dangerous fires. And even worse, I learned this week that layoffs are being strongly considered,” he said.
“Mayor Turner gave me no choice but to seek to right the wrongs he has allowed for two of the five communities. I’ve always been a team player and pride myself on working harmoniously, but my efforts were repeatedly met with deaf ears and I must fight vigorously for the residents of Guttenberg.”
Turner, the also the chair of NHRFR’s Management Committee, expectedly pushed back on Zitt’s claims.
“We have a very simple budget: It’s salaries, pensions, benefits and equipment. That’s fine, there’s no problem with that, but every municipality gets the budget and audit as is,” he told HCV over the phone.
“If Mayor Zitt has an issue, he has a representative on the board. North Bergen also has a director, Mike DeOrio, whose been on since Day 1. So there’s no surprises. Anyone can make a political issue if they want one. No representative, including the one from Guttenberg, has ever asked questions on the budget or audits.”
Turner added that nobody is considering layoffs, pointing out that NHRFR is in the process of hiring 16-20 more firefighters, also noting that there has never been any manpower shortages whatsoever.
“Mayor Zitt is wrong, maybe someone internally thought there would be layoffs if Guttenberg and North Bergen pull out, but no one’s discussed that. Making up stories does not benefit public safety, we’re literally dealing with putting out fires here, so they all have to settle down since we’re dealing with the lives of their residents.”
He continued that North Bergen and Guttenberg both have copies of the most up to date budgets and audits, while the DCA reviewed NHRFR’s finances last year and did not find any issues.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comment from Assemblyman Julio Marenco (D-33).
 and Julio Marenco (D-33) are working on a bill that would give the state DCA financial oversight over NHRFR.){kind=link}