OLD BRIDGE — With wage freezes recently imposed on the employees of municipal unions, township department supervisors have also agreed to sacrifice their raises.
The Township Council voted unanimously June 14 to adopt an ordinance that implements the salary freezes for department heads for four years.
“This decision sends the right message,” Mayor Jim Phillips said. “If labor takes a freeze, then management takes a freeze as well.”
In May, grappling with a $2 million deficit in the township’s 2010 budget and an overcap tax levy, officials implemented zero-percent salary increases for township employees retroactive to July 2008 and up through December 2010, except for contractual step increases and longevity increases.
A combined $2 million had been set aside for salary increases in the 2009 budget, the transition-year budget and the initial 2010 budget, and by requiring retroactive salary freezes, officials were free to apply the reserve to the current budget, thus making up the shortfall.
With such amendments in place, the tax levy was reduced to $31.36 million, bringing the tax rate increase to only 8 cents. That means the owner of property assessed at $150,000 would pay $121 more in municipal taxes than last year.
Following the adoption of the budget in May, the Township Council unanimously approved contracts with three municipal worker unions. The professional and non-professional bargaining units of Teamsters Local No. 469 and the employees of the roads department agreed to take zero-percent salary increases from 2008 through 2011.
The ordinance adopted June 14 included stipulations identical to those agreed upon by the unions.
“The agreement is exactly the same,” Phillips said. “The unions saw and understood the financial situation we were in, and their supervisors followed suit. The agreements are complementary of each other.”
Council members were pleased with the decision, which department heads volunteered for without input from the governing body.
“I applaud them. To take a wage freeze in this economy is difficult,” Councilman Richard Greene said. “But it’s really significant. The fact that these employees and supervisors have given up retroactive pay is a huge step forward.”
Greene said the latest group of salary freezes, combined with the unions’ earlier sacrifices, are helping to ease the tax impact. The tax hike would have been significantly more had the unions and supervisors not taken the freeze, he said.
“It’s a step in the right direction for trying to save money as well as maintaining a stable tax rate,” he said.
Council President G. Kevin Calogera said the decision encourages a sense of community among employees.
“How would you feel if it were only the big people on the top getting the raises?” he asked. “This sends the right message. I think all the department heads understand. I’m sure they’re not thrilled about the idea, but it’s only fair. ” CouncilwomanMary Sohor agreed.
“Their willingness really impressed me. It sent out a strong message loud and clear that they hear the taxpayers’ concerns and they’re here to help,” she said. “They’re leading by example.”
Sohor noted that the wage freeze shows calmness and commitment despite the anxiety surrounding the economy and job market.
Now that contracts have been settled with the unions and the department heads, township officials will focus on negotiations with the Patrolman’s Benevolent Association (PBA) that represents Old Bridge police officers. The contract is in the mediation process and will soon go into binding arbitration.
Some council members are worried that the contract will call for funds not yet allocated in the municipality. However, Phillips has said that the arbitration process typically takes six to nine months, and the soonest he expects the arbiter to rule on the contract is December, giving the township time to fund salary increases if they are called for.