Across State, Towns Owe $825M In Unused Sick and Vacation Benefits.

TRENTON — A bipartisan group of 234 mayors joined Gov. Chris Christie’s call for the legislature Thur. Dec. 8 to end its delays and pass real sick and vacation pay reform to save taxpayer dollars and deliver critical budget relief to municipalities.
Eleven mayors joined the governor at a press conference in Teaneck. Liabilities facing taxpayers across the state for unused sick and vacation day benefits total more than $825 million.
“After having specific bills to act on for nearly 19 months, it is past time for the legislature to stand up and give mayors the tools they are asking for to provide savings to taxpayers, including a complete end to the inexplicable practice of paying scarce taxpayer dollars for unused sick days,” said Christie. “Like the other tool kit bills, real sick and vacation benefit reform is a common sense reform that has bipartisan support of mayors, local elected officials and lawmakers from communities all across our state – urban and suburban, shore and inland, Democrat and Republican. There is no excuse for the legislature’s continued failure to deliver savings to our cities and property taxpayers.
Christie said mayors understand that the inaction of the legislature has a meaningful impact on the major cost drivers in their budgets and how effectively they can control property taxes under the 2 percent property tax cap. Without reform, sick and vacation benefit liabilities will continue to accrue at the expense of property taxpayers all across the state, including those taxpayers already facing some of the highest accrued liabilities today.
Estimated total accumulated sick and vacation time owed to public workers:
•New Brunswick: $14.5 million in accumulated payouts $1,330 per taxpayer
•Jersey City: $74 million $1,174 per taxpayer
•Hackensack: $18.9 million $1,030 per taxpayer
•Newark: $46.1 million $770 per taxpayer
•Atlantic City: $34.6 million $426 per taxpayer
•Camden: $23.2 million $770 per taxpayer
•Elizabeth: $18.3 million $691 per taxpayer
•Edison: $14.6 million $352 per taxpayer
•Union City: $14.6 million $493 per taxpayer
Christie said mayors from every New Jersey county are standing up to demand action in this legislative session on these reforms to comprehensively address the property tax crisis and provide local government savings.
Participating mayors from Cape May County included: Marty Pagliughi, Avalon, Carl Schupp, Cape May Point, Ed Mahaney, City of Cape May, Michael Beck, Lower Township, Bill Henfey, North Wildwood, Jay Gillian, Ocean City, Lenny Desiderio, Sea Isle City, Suzanne Walters, Stone Harbor, Richard Palombo, Upper Township, Ernie Troiano, Wildwood, Carl Groon, Wildwood Crest and William Pikolycky, Woodbine.
One year ago, Christie conditionally vetoed Senate Bill S-2220.
In a letter to mayors, William Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities explained in the conditional veto, “Christie stated that it is a ‘…common sense proposition: sick leave is to be used when you are sick, not as a supplemental retirement fund paid for by the taxpayers for people who already have taxpayer funded pensions. While I recognize the sponsors’ efforts to address public employee benefits, this bill does not sufficiently remedy the gaps in current law that require taxpayers to continually fund unreasonable payouts to public employees.’”
According to Dressel, the Governor’s condition approval of the bill on recommended changes would include:
•Prohibit supplemental compensation for sick days that accumulate after the effective date of the act. Any employee hired after the effective date of the bill will not be permitted to receive compensation for unused sick days
•Require that any sick leave and vacation leave accrued prior to the effective date of the act must be used before sick leave or vacation leave accrued after the effective date and establishes disciplinary actions for violating the sick leave provision. For the 3rd violation of the sick leave provision the employer shall have good cause for termination of the employee
•Prohibit all employees from in using six or more consecutive days of accumulated sick leave without a written medical note
•Require the suspension of payment for accumulated sick or vacation leave for an employee under indictment for a crime that involves or touches their office and forfeiture of any supplemental compensation if the employee is convicted. (See related story about Lower Township payouts.)