Library Board Expected to OK Plan to Set Budget Transfer to Twp. in Motion

It’s one of the last steps for Middletown officials in moving successfully forward with adopting . And it’s a matter of standard procedure.

Tonight, when the Middletown Township Library Board of Trustees meets, at 7 p.m. in the library, the board is expected to approve the transfer of $500,000 to township coffers to balance the municipal budget and

According to officials, after passing a resolution sanctioning the transfer of funds, the transaction must now meet state approval.

In doing so, the library board must submit a letter, detailing its “strategic plan” reworking its own budget to account for that money being removed from the surplus. The library has an estimated surplus of $1.2 million, which is considered healthy.

“In other words, they have to show the state that they have the wherewithal to give the township that $500,000; and they do,” Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore said. “This is just a formality. The agreement is and has been in place and everyone is amenable to it. It’s basically a done deal, since the resolution was already passed and we all . It just has to be approved by the state in order for us to proceed with adopting our municipal budget.”

The mayor added that the library does not, according to state statute, have to vote on the submission of the letter to the state, but he said he knew they were planning on sharing the plan with the board and taking, essentially, a courtesy vote.

It is on the library agenda as “Strategic Plan Review Action — Resolution 2011-27 Transfer of Funds from the Middletown Public Library.”

The plan will go to the state’s Department of Community Affairs’ Division of Local Government Services for approval.

Once approved by the state, the township can account for the money its budget and rework it, excluding the initially planned “last resort” layoffs.

If it all goes smoothly, the mayor said the plan is to adopt the budget by mid-July.