Commissioners Approve Purchase of Body Worn Cameras for Law Enforcement - TAPinto.net
HUNTERDON COUNTY, NJ - At a special meeting of Hunterdon County’s Board of County Commissioners Dec. 30, a county requisition of $111,770.08 was approved for the purchase of body-worn cameras from vendor Axon Enterprises Inc. based in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The allocation is for equipment for personnel of the Hunterdon County Sheriff’s Office. County Purchasing Agent Ray Rule introduced County Requisition #R1-06349: Body Worn Cameras, as funds for the purchase come from two county budget accounts.
Over the summer, board actions confirmed Hunterdon County’s receipt of $36,684 in grant funding, a SFY21 Body-Worn Camera Grant valid for the period of Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2025. The grant to Hunterdon comes from the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Office of the Attorney General, for the county Sheriff's Department.
The board officially approved receipt of the state grant on July 20, and, at the board’s Aug. 3 meeting, the commissioners formally approved the SFY21 Body-Worn Camera Grant amount of $36,684 for insertion as an item of revenue in the 2021 county budget.
Also at the meeting, Hunterdon County released information about “Holding the Line” on the county’s tax rate.
Director Susan Soloway noted that in all of the first three years she’s served on the county governing body, 2019 through 2021, the county tax rate has held steady in each budget.
“It is a significant accomplishment for which I thank all who have been engaged in the process,” she said. “As I have stated before, putting Hunterdon County first means putting the taxpayers first.”
The $92 million county budget continued to be substantially below the budget enacted 14 years ago, county commissioner J. Matthew Holt noted, and the budget continued the county’s zero debt and pay-as-you-go capital financing program.
“The last county debt service payment was made in 2014,” he said. “The county’s strong financial controls also paid dividends for the taxpayers when the independent auditor determined that county finances were totally in order for the sixth year in a row.”
“Each year, when the auditing firm releases its findings on county finances, we speak about the outstanding finance and accounting controls that have been put in place,” he added. “This is not rhetoric. It is fact, proven out by the audit for an incredible six straight years. Through hard work and determination, the county has made itself a model of government finance.”
Raritan Township resident Barbara Sachau asked during public comment for the county to put out information about the Hunterdon County tax receipts, and whether that total remained steady or was higher for 2021, and how that impacts the county’s “holding the line.”
“Taxes are still very high in this area and in New Jersey overall,” she said. “Taxes are so high compared to other states that it’s causing a lot of people to move away from New Jersey. One of the most important things that can be done is keeping the taxes from rising higher, and here the county has put forth the $5 million, or more, toward building the new North Hunterdon campus of county Polytech. A new school facility is a very expensive expenditure, and I feel we need a lot more information when the board has proposed the spending, as construction and labor can lead to a lot more money.”
In addition, Sachau said, it is imperative for public access to county commissioners’ biweekly meetings to be made available via the call-in option, as had become the practice during the early months of the pandemic in 2020, and lasting through the first months of 2021. She noted that more members of the public could attend via telephone, including seniors who may not want to venture to the meetings in Flemington during winter months after dark, as well as anyone highly concerned about the recent surges of COVID-19 infections due to the Delta and Omicron variants spreading in New Jersey.
“The board would have better (public) meeting attendance, and provide better knowledge and access for people to learn what the county commissioners are doing if the telephone attendance is again possible, just like you are doing at tonight’s meeting,” she said.
source: https://www.tapinto.net/towns/flemington-slash-raritan/sections/hunterdon-county-news/articles/commissioners-approve-purchase-of-body-worn-cameras-for-law-enforcement
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