Councilwoman opts out of health benefits for next year
Russell says council positions should be volunteer, not paid
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer
Councilwoman Kathy Russell plans to give up her Brick Township health benefits on New Year's Day, a move she said will help save workers' jobs.

"I've already contacted the human resources department and told them my intention is to no longer take them," Russell said early this week.

Russell, the lone Democrat on the Township Council, also offered to give up her $8,000 salary as a council member if the other six council members will join her.

"I would like to see us go back to volunteerism," Russell said. "I'd like to see everybody give back their entire salary. I would like the council members to do that. I will do it if they will do it. If we have to be paid, it can be a dollar a year. "

Russell asked Township Attorney Jean Cipriani at the Nov. 10 Township Council meeting if she had researched whether a municipality is required to offer full health benefits to elected officials.

Municipalities that are in the state health benefits plan must offer health benefits to elected officials, Cipriani said.

"I was unable to find anything one way or another about municipalities that are not in state health benefits plan," she said. "It's really not clear-cut. It depends on the terms of service offered. "

Russell then asked if elected officials could pass a resolution allowing council members to opt out of health benefits.

"You can do that on an individual basis, Councilwoman Russell," council President Ruthanne Scaturro told her. "It's open enrollment."

Cipriani said it would be more appropriate to ask the township labor attorney if the council could pass a resolution.

Just how much employees should pay toward health benefits has been a controversial issue over the past several months.

Township department heads and unclassified employees will begin paying 1 percent of their salary in January toward their health insurance premiums.

Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis and Township Council members have said all township employees should do the same. So far, union officials and members have balked at paying anything toward the cost of health care premiums with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the township's insurance carrier.

Acropolis said at the meeting that he planned to send a letter to each council member asking what other health insurance they might have available through spouses or family members and if they use those benefits also.

"Let's put the cards on the table," he said. "We'll see who has double-dipped."

It cost Brick taxpayers a total of $129,307 to pay for the mayor and council members' health benefits in 2008, according to information obtained from the township through the state Open Public Records Act.A

cropolis and Councilmen Anthony Matthews and Michael Thulen have the most expensive health care packages. All three have traditional family coverage plans at $20,757 apiece. Russell and Councilman Joseph Sangiovanni both have direct-access coverage for two adults at $15,134.

Councilman Daniel Toth has a direct-access family plan, which costs $17,495.

Council President Ruthanne Scaturro has a traditional plan for two adults at a cost of $17,875. Scaturro's husband, Stephen, is the director of the Ocean County Department of Consumer Affairs. Councilman Brian DeLuca is the only elected official who did not take an entire benefits package this year. DeLuca has family vision and dental coverage at a cost of $1,398.

Acropolis said Monday that Russell's suggestion that council positions become volunteer positions is unrealistic.

"Brick's the 12th largest municipality in the state of New Jersey," he said. "It's a $78 million budget with over 400 employees. She wants to make that a volunteer position?"

Russell also voted to raise former Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli's salary from $15,000 to $52,000, Acropolis said.

The township administration has been struggling to find ways to deal with a nearly $4 million projected shortfall in the 2009 municipal budget. Acropolis has placed the blame squarely on the state-imposed 4 percent cap on the amount to be raised in taxation in municipal budgets each year.

But Russell says council members failed to heed the warnings of former Mayor Daniel J. Kelly and Business Administrator Scott M. Pezarras last year.

Kelly said in his first and only budget presentation last year that the township had relied on one-shot revenues, years of no increase in the tax rate and the use of too much surplus, all of which created a structural imbalance in the budget.

Pezarras was "only the messenger," Russell said.

"They need to shoulder blame," she said. "He [Pezarras] put out the warning signs many times."

Acropolis has blamed Scarpelli for hiring too many people, some in unnecessary positions, during his 12 years as mayor. Scarpelli, who was elected to an unprecedented four terms, is serving an 18-month sentence in federal prison at Fort Dix. He pleaded guilty in January 2007 to accepting bribes from an unnamed developer.

"The prior administration hired an average of 49 people a year over the last 10 years," Acropolis said at the Nov. 10 meeting. "That's a problem. That's why we are here today."

Much of the nearly $4 million shortfall anticipated in next year's budget is contractual expenses, including raises for the police and public works departments, the mayor said at the meeting.

The township absorbed a $1.3 million hike in employee health insurance costs this year. State aid is down by $700,000; utilities are up about $500,000, he said.

"We tried to do a damn good job and not hire a bunch of people," he said.

So far, 34 township positions have been eliminated, primarily through attrition, for a savings of $1.8 million, Acropolis said.