Marlton Telegram

By AUBRIE GEORGE | The Marlton Telegram
A debate about Council members receiving employee health benefits from the township seemed to solve itself last week due to regulations under the township’s health benefit program.
Township Manager Tom Czerniecki told Council that because the township is a part of the state’s health benefits plan, they are subject to different regulations than if they were under a private provider.
Regulations under the township’s plan say that Council members are considered township employees and that the township is not allowed to pick and choose which of their employees are allowed or not allowed to receive benefits.
Instead, Council re-introduced and passed an ordinance on first reading that says any Council member who wishes to participate in the state health benefit program does so at his or her own expense.
“You can be part of the plan, but you have to pay for it,” Czerniecki said.
The cost of a family health benefit plan is about $16,000, Czerniecki said.
Deputy Mayor Joe Howarth, Councilman Kurt Croft and Councilwoman Debbie Hackman introduced and voted for an ordinance at the Nov. 10 Council meeting that would eliminate Council’s ability to receive benefits through the township.
“This stems from our belief that this is a part-time, voluntary position,” said Croft, who introduced at the Nov. 10 meeting.
Councilman John McKenna and Mayor Randy Brown expressed opposition to the measure.
McKenna, who receives benefits from the township but donates his Council salary, questioned why the three council members thought it was OK for Council members to receive an approximately $7,000 a year salary from the township but not benefits.
“If it’s acceptable to take away benefits, this being a part-time job, then why are you taking a salary?” McKenna asked.
Earlier this year, Croft and Brown donated a portion of their salary to the township.
Brown said he thought compensation was necessary in order to attract good people to government.
“If we take away salary and benefits we’re going to lose this job to multimillionaires and people controlled by others,” Brown said.
Residents at last week’s meeting weighed in on both sides of the Nov. 10 meeting’s debate.
Resident Albert Lutner said he didn’t agree that good people need incentives to be attracted to government and that Council members should be willing to do their job without compensation.
“By electing Howarth, Hackman and Croft, the people have spoken and this is one of the changes they want to see in the township,” Lutner said.
Resident David Silver echoed Brown and McKenna’s questions to the other three Council members about why they weren’t introducing a measure to eliminate salary as well.
“Why are we just talking health benefits?” Silver asked. “We should be talking total compensation.”
He also asked the three Council members, why they originally opposed the change in election dates that residents recently approved at the general election polls.
“You guys didn’t want to move the election to save money,” Silver said. “Why one thing and not the other?”
Lutner said that Council should take it one step at a time and later discuss eliminating salary as well.
“Whether this addresses both issues or not, I think this is a first step toward saving costs,” Lutner said.
At the Nov. 10 meeting, Council had asked Czerniecki to meet with CFO Tom Shanahan and Hackman to outline all of the options for Council’s salary and/or benefits package.
Czerniecki said the regulations pre-empted the cause of the task force. However, he said, members of the task force are doing a comprehensive survey of the way other surrounding municipalities offer benefits and salary packages. Czerniecki said the task force would report to Council on their findings at a later date.
A public hearing and final adoption date for the ordinance, as it was amended last week, is scheduled for Council’s Dec. 15 meeting.
In other news:
• Brown gave residents a message of early warning that the township is facing continued budget issues following the state’s recent announcement that it will withhold about $21 million in municipal aid due to its own budget crisis.
Brown said that measure would leave a $32,000 gap in this year’s budget, but that number has the potential to grow even more in the coming years.
“The amount of state aid that we rely on is probably going to be slashed severely,” Brown said.
Brown sent out a warning that Council was “going to have to look at all possible options in the coming year and for the next two years.”
“All of us are in the same boat,” Brown said. “We’re all going to have to find a way to think of anything and everything.”
Council told residents to also look to the school board during this year’s tight budget – members said that the school budget makes up 66 percent of the local tax bill, while the township’s taxes make up about 13 percent.
Council members urged residents to attend school board meetings and to speak with school board members regarding the budget.
“We’re all in this together,” McKenna said. “Take a look at the whole township, don’t just take a look at the township’s taxes.”
• Council announced it would cancel the meeting scheduled for Jan. 5, in light of the holiday season.  Members said meetings scheduled for Dec. 15 and Jan. 19, 2010 would be sufficient to handle township business around that time. Officials agreed that if any issues come up between the two meetings, they would schedule a special meeting to handle those issues.
• Council ended last week’s meeting by entering into an executive session to discuss contract negotiations, land acquisition, personnel and litigation.
Council is scheduled to meet again on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.

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