Survey/ Analysis

How Expensive is Your Local Gov’t?

By John Andrus As President Reagan's New Federalism takes hold and more programs are assumed by the states, the domino effect on municipal government will make the Committees, Commissions and Councils of local government Increasingly more the place where the mayor can Justifiably say, "The buck stops here.” * Since New Jersey traditionally is a Home Rule state, the electeiT mayors, Committee members, Commissioners, Councilmen and their appointed administrators and managers have wielded more power and had more responsibilities than their c«ounl©rparts in states where county and state government have more

say.

With this perspective of traditional authority and the prospect of ever greater responsibilities in mind, this newspaper surveyed the salaries of top government officials in all 16 Jersey Cape Gov't Salaries Per Capita

Stone Harbor: $33.70 County Average: $8,901 Lower Twp.: $1.06

. municipalities and then analyzed the results via a number of factors in an attempt to find out which townships, cities and boroughs have the most expensive and the least expensive governments. A COUPLE WORDS of caution: The analysis was neither scientific nor allinclusive. It utilized readily available

statistics; and it did not take into account the .valuable services (or costs) of the municipal clerk (the backbone of any government) or'-such other crucial members of the municipal government team as tax collectors, assessors, .solicitors and the department heads (who actually implement the directives of the elected leaders and chief administrators). Six basic sets of, statistics were compared: •mayor's salary, •total salaries of the elected governing body and, 'overall salaries of government leadership in comparison to permanent population, •government salaries compared to total ratables, •salaries compared to local taxes, and •salaries compared to the total municipal budget.

Vol. 17 No. 7 mi wo«»ov.co»p ah»tgM»February 17, 1982

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Pinelands Panel Is Stood Up By County WOODBINE - Although the Pinelands Commission scheduled a public hearing here Feb. 11 to discuss the county’s Comprehensive Plan, members of the County Planning Board — who prepared the plan several years ago — boycotted the session. The hearing was held to obtain input regarding the plan that had been submitted, as required by law, for review and certification by the Commission as complying with the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan. But county planning officials — who made no effort to change the existing plan that allows greater density than the state permits — acknowledged recently that they are certain their plan will be found in non-conformance. And according to Planning Board director Elwood Jarmer, they don’t plan to change it until the Pinelands Commission shows some signs of considering changes in the Pinelands plan. JARMER TOLD THE Planning Board late last month that no steps should be taken to move in the direction of compliance until new commissioners are named to the state body to replace Byrne administration appointees, and anticipated legislation is passed allowing all communities affected by the plan to have an extension to sdek compliance. The Planning Board last week issued a sharp statenjent emphasizing that it considere the county’s current Comprehensive Plan to be the appropriate regional (Page 14 Please)

The results were then listed in descending order so that a ranking resulted among the 16 municipalities —.the most expensive at the top, the least expensive at the bottom. The average in each category was also listed, Then these listings were compared to determine the average numerical order of the 16 municipal Gov't Salaries/$ 1(H) Ratables Woodbine: G.S? 1 County Average: l.TS* Lower Twp.: .63 f . governmentsoimong the six lactors AMONG THE UNSCIENTIFIC aspects of the analysis was that the six lists were merely averaged; none of them was (Page 16 Please) News~^™

Week's

TopStories

Drug Aid Rising MILLVILLE - Beginning March 1. the income level 'increases by $3,000 for low cost prescriptions (usually $2) under the state’s Pharmaceutical Aid to the aged

program.

Senator James Hurley has reminded that undet* recent legislation single residents 65 and over who have a max imum income of $12,000 or $15,000 or less for a married couple will be eligible to participate. Diabled persons 18 and over who have been declared disabled by Social Security and who meet the same income requirements are also eligible. Fundq for the increased costs of the PAA program, which currently total $59 million, will come from the Casino

Revenue Fund.

Search for Drugs CAPE MAY — The U S. Coast Guard is in the midsts of an investigation into the alleged use of drugs at the recruit training center here that will probably take about a month to wrap up. According to reports, upwards of 30 search warrants had been issued as of last week, and dogs trained to sniff out drugs have recently been used to search buildings and work areas aboard the

center

Bridge Reopened OCEAN CITY Traffic patterns got back to normal here late last week with the reopening of thoOcean Drive bet ween thj city and Longport The bridge was closed Jan. 30 after one of its sup^ ports was damaged by ice County bridge Commission general manger Wister Dougherty has estimated the work should cost approximately

$30,000

MUA too Costly WILDWOOD CREST - In a recent letter to the county MUA, local Public Works Commissioner Frank MaCall indicated that officials here feel it would be more economically feasible to upgrade the existing sewage treatment facilities than to participate in the proposed regional system.; Although MUA officials contend the cost per hookup will be $90 to $120, critics of the Authority claim user fees for , plants still to be constructed will be much higher. Currently the average boro sewer cost i$$60.

Digest

Reagan Cuts Into Beach, Waterways

WASHINGTON. D.C. - Congressman Bill Hughes has expressed serious concern over the Reagan Administration’s decision to cut off funding for virtually all navigation and beach restoration projects in South Jersey. • According to Hughes, the project abandonments could have a devastating effect on South Jersey’s tourism and fishing industries. He said he intends to appeal in Congress for restoration of many of the budget cuts, which were outlined last week in the Administration’s fiscal 1983 budget message • THIS BUDGET REQUEST for the Army Corps of Engineers is absolutely

devastating to South Jersey,” Hughes stated. "The Administration has proposed to walk away from those dredging and beach restoration programs which are critical to our local economy. I’ve never seen such misplaced budget priorities," he continued in a news release. "Six southern states alone are scheduled to receive more than one-third of the entirfc civl works budget But here in South Jersey, where we are critically dependent on the Army Corps of Engineers, we’re being left high and dry." The Ocean City Democrat pointed out the Administration’s budget recommends funding for just one authorized project in*

South Jersey - $550,000 to dredge the entrance channel to Cold Spring Inlet, which serves the U S. Coast Guard Training Center. AMONG THE CRITICAL projects which dropped from the budget are • dredging of the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway. • dredging of Barnegat Inlet, • dredging of Absecon Inlet, * The Cape May beach restoration program, and • the south Jetty project in Barnegat Inlet "These are essential projects," Hughes declared "The Inland Waterway is New Jersey’s major commercial shipping route. Barnegat Inlet is the State’s busiest (Page 15 Please)

Another Rate Bid New Jersey Water Co. has asked the state Board of Utilities for a $7.3 million water ahd sewer increase which if approved will raise the spwer rates in Ocean City by 11,3 per cent and the city’s water fees by 32.9 per cent. Water fees would also increase in Court House by 31.7 per cent! 1 Among the reasons for the rate hike • are increased’tobor, power and chemical costs, as well as additional mains and service installations resulting from the area’s rapid growth. The water company only two weeks ago was granted sewer rate increases in Ocean City ranging from 58 to 321 per cent for increased costs associated with (PagelSPlease)