Part-time public employee compensation under scrutiny

The Willingboro Township Council's vote last month to cut its members' salaries - then the highest among municipal boards in Burlington County - came in response to residents' complaining about the pay, Mayor Eddie Campbell Jr. recalled.

There's been so much public clamor that next year, he doesn't even want his additional payment for not accepting township health insurance, given that residents "think we're overpaid and charging citizens for something we ought not to be getting," Campbell said.

How part-time public employees are compensated is increasingly under scrutiny amid New Jersey's financial crisis. Gov. Christie has opposed part-timers' receiving insurance, pointing to the disparity in New Jersey between public and private benefits.

The five-member council in Willingboro cut its salaries 37 percent; they had ranged from $14,328 to $15,446. But records obtained by The Inquirer show the payments council members and some other employees receive for opting out of the township health insurance plan - four of five council members do - increased in 2010 by about $2,000, to $5,560. Campbell's nearly doubled to $6,580, though he said he was not sure why his payment was higher than fellow members'.

It is unclear why the payments to waive medical coverage went up, although municipal rules provide for such increases.

Six part-time professionals - a judge, two prosecutors, a public defender, and two more attorneys - also receive health benefits. A seventh, Solicitor Michael Armstrong, accepts money on top of his $90,000 salary to opt out of the insurance, then retains insurance through another part-time post as solicitor of the township's separate Municipal Utilities Authority.

Like communities across the region, Willingboro faces difficult choices as it tries to keep taxes down and programs intact, and spare employees' jobs. The municipality is seeking wage freezes and other concessions from the unions. Furloughs are on the table.

Willingboro, which until a recent revaluation had one of the highest tax rates in the region, plans to receive a waiver to exceed the state-imposed 4 percent cap on increasing the tax levy, according to Township Manager Joanne Diggs. The owner of a home assessed at the township average would pay $223 more in municipal taxes under a budget introduced with a tax increase of 13 percent, she said. With spending up just 4 percent, however, much of the tax increase is driven by cuts in state aid.

Health benefits for part-timers, and payments to opt out of them, cost Willingboro $137,000 a year.

Diggs and other officials said the elimination of health benefits could not be pursued until next year, when professionals' contracts are up for negotiation.

In Willingboro, a professional can earn as little as $1,200 and receive health insurance. Uri Taenzer does so as the planning board attorney, getting a benefits package for himself and his wife that costs taxpayers $17,908. A library attorney and assistant prosecutor each make salaries of $3,742 that come with insurance worth $14,734.

"Why are you paying [benefits] for some people who work a full-time job for somewhere else?" resident Jade Thompson-Frederick asked at a recent meeting.

Councilman Ken Gordon also raised concerns about the practice. Officials responded that some of the professionals are essentially working for the insurance and they would want raises in their salaries if the township eliminated the benefit.

Cutting council salaries "is going to make a difference of .001 cents on the tax rate, and the same thing would happen if we were to tell part-time people they could not have health insurance benefits," said Councilman James Ayrer, a retiree from the Philadelphia school system whose health benefits cost Willingboro taxpayers $16,708.

"It would have some kind of a reduction but I think it would be so small it wouldn't be noticeable," he said.

Campbell said Willingboro offered part-timers health benefits because some need them, and "they are working - they are entitled to it."

Bill Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said that just because a town offers benefits does not mean the cost of the employee is higher than it would be without paying for health insurance. For example, a town could offer an employee a higher salary with fewer or no benefits, or it could offer an employee health benefits with a lower salary.

Still, "benefits are being reduced or eliminated or being scrutinized now more than ever," he said.

Armstrong, the township solicitor, gets $5,560 - a $2,000 increase from last year - not to take health insurance from Willingboro. Instead, he and his family are covered under the health plan of the Municipal Utilities Authority at a cost to ratepayers of about $18,000.

Armstrong, who in addition to owning his own law firm has a third part-time job as counsel to state Senate Democrats, said he was told to fill out a form if he was opting out of Willingboro health insurance, and that when he first did so, he wasn't aware that he would receive money in exchange.

He noted, however, that completing the form saved the township money by not having to pay for health insurance, and Willingboro "encouraged employees to fill it out."

Another recipient of the $5,560 payment not to take insurance: Deputy Mayor Jacqueline Jennings, who already is eligible for public health benefits through her $104,500 job as a director at the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.

Then there's Tax Assessor William Tantum, who township officials said was a 9-to-5 employee but simultaneously holds public positions with the Willingboro school board and the smaller towns of Chesterfield, Bordentown Township, and Bordentown City. Willingboro pays him $103,000.

He recently applied for a veteran's pension to take effect next January. With 36 years of service and his salaries totaling about $200,000, Tantum is due a six-figure pension that will be among the highest in New Jersey, according to state records.

Documents show he has also accepted payments to opt out of insurance from Willingboro in recent years. Tantum did not return messages requesting comment.

Gordon, who joined the council this year, said people in town are "so unhappy."

"Services are cut, they see people making six figures, double- and triple-dipping . . . but we still are told that Willingboro is a great town and everything is fine."