LAKEWOOD TOWNSHIP'S FINANCE OFFICE "DELAYS DISTRIBUTING FUNDS" SAYS TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS WHO NOW HIRED THEIR OWN FINANCE SYSTEM

The Lakewood Township finance office delays distribution of funds, says the Lakewood Development Corporation (LDC) which has now decided to bypass the Township and hire their own autonomous Requestion and Purchase Order system.

The LDC authorized the expenditure at their last public meeting.

According to their resolution:

The Township of Lakewood continues to experience relatively high levels of unemployment and a distressed economy. The Lakewood Development corporation administers the Lakewood Urban Enterprise Zone program as a means to help ameliorate the unemployment crisis and stimulate the local economy.

The LDC receives an annual allocation of State funds to create and facilitate projects that generate employment opportunities and economic development. New Jersey State Municipal Government laws require distributions of project funds to be processed through a Requisition and Purchase Order apparatus.

However, under current circumstances, the Lakewood Development Corporation must process requisition and purchase orders in conjunction with the township finance office and this can delay distribution of projects funds to project recipients in a considerable manner.

It is the desire of the LDC to facilitate expedited distributions of project funds to project recipients and the legal mechanism to do this is to establish an autonomous Requestion and Purchase Order system for the Lakewood Development Corporation.

The LDC authorized execution of a contract with Edmunds GovTech to service its needs. The costs associated with the work required to achieve a successful outcome of the project to be $16,000 for the first-year investment that will cover subscription, implementation and conversion fees, and year 2 subscription fee of $5,000.

Township officials have not issued any public explanation as to why the Township's finance office delays distribution of funds enough to make the LDC decide to bypass the Township and hire their own autonomous Requestion and Purchase Order system.

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