TOWNSHIP SCRUTINY ON CHARITY GIVING

The News-Record has a great story today on how the Township Committee will apply more scrutiny to the charities it funds during this budget year:

Maplewood officials will apply greater scrutiny to how four local nonprofits are using taxpayer money.

Each year, the township financially supports YouthNet, the Community Coalition on Race, the Springfield Avenue Partnership and the Maplewood Village Alliance.

In 2011, those organizations received a combined $82,700. Mayor Vic De Luca announced Jan. 28 that the township and those organizations will reach agreements spelling out how this year’s money will be spent. He said the town is no longer giving “general support” to the groups.

“They’ll all be in a contract for service, which will have measurable objectives and very specific things that we want to fund,” he said.

When asked why the township was making the change, De Luca responded, “We need to have more accountability for how our dollars are spent and just targeting the dollars to compliment town goals.”