Two River-area municipalities are starting to formulate an official stance on the state’s bipartisan Path to Progress initiative presented in April by New Jersey’s top lawmaker, Senate President Steve Sweeney.
In 2018 Sweeney assembled 26 experts in an economic and fiscal policy workgroup to study the state’s tax and fiscal policy, as well as identify ways for the state to beat back soaring pension and benefit costs, stabilize property tax levies and, among other tasks, transform public school systems into more efficient operations.
“You can’t change the system if you don’t fix the system,” Sweeney said during an April 16 presentation to the New Jersey Business and Industry Association at their headquarters in Trenton.
In towns like Fair Haven, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, municipal leaders have been evaluating the recommendations.
Fair Haven Mayor Benjamin Lucarelli said his town’s borough council has been discussing different aspects of Path to Progress in workshop meetings.
“We want to endorse it, but we want to do that selectively,” Lucarelli said. “When our endorsement comes out it will be on behalf of the entire borough community in conjunction with the board of education. And in that regard, there are many good elements, but some that are not applicable to Fair Haven or in our best interest.”
Sweeney’s Path to Progress is a list of 32 recommendations, including a merger of all elementary and middle school districts into K-12 regional districts, which would impact Fair Haven school district. The borough’s high schoolers attend Rumson-Fair Haven Regional.
Another recommendation would transfer newly hired public employees or employees with only a few years on the job – including teachers and municipal workers, but excluding police and firefighters – away from a conventional pension plan and toward one that resembles a 401(k).
Another aspect of Path to Progress would reduce the state’s share of health care costs to these public workers.
“Everyone can agree that health care benefits need to be reformed and pensions need to be looked at. The pensions of our municipal workers are in good shape. The police is in decent shape. But the pension system for our teachers and district employees is a disaster,” Lucarelli said.
The borough council includes a professional teacher, Elizabeth Koch, giving insight into both sides of the issue.
“Before we can fully endorse it, we need to know how Path to Progress is going to impact her and the next generation to follow her,” Lucarelli said.
Leading the council’s discussion of Path to Progress is council president Jonathan Peters, a professor of finance and data analytics at the Lucille and Jay Chazanoff School of Business at College of Staten Island, Lucarelli said.
According to Peters, Path to Progress also examines the privatization of state assets, in particular the toll and turnpike authorities, to pay for the pension system.
Peters said the state considered a similar measure under former Gov. John Corzine, and with it a “proposed toll increase by about 800 percent” over a 15-year period.
“This is an interesting talking point for Shore folks because the burden is not equal across the state. Those who live near the Route 78 and 295 corridors don’t have the same burden. Why should one part of the state have to pay more to save pensions than others?” Peters asked.
The council expects to have its position on Path to Progress by its July 29 meeting.
In addition to public school pension and benefits reforms, recommendations include the elimination of superintendent positions in smaller districts for a more regionalized structure, as seen with Henry Hudson Tri-District in Atlantic Highlands and Highlands.
However, regionalizing school districts comes with challenges. Consolidating school systems means negotiating a contract to level compensation and benefits packages for employees across multiple districts. If employees of the same standing and experience have varying rates of compensation, it is expected contracts would be negotiated upward, not down, adding to personnel costs that were meant to be cut by the elimination of superintendent positions.
Another aspect of Path to Progress is a greater pursuit of municipal shared services.
Earlier this month Borough of Highlands administrator Kim Gonzales said a discussion is ongoing about a regional shared service program among the Bayshore communities.
Gonzales added that her municipality is undergoing an audit using free services from the New Jersey Department of Consumer Affairs to reveal what borough departments are best suited for personnel sharing with neighboring boroughs Atlantic Highlands and Sea Bright.
Highlands Mayor Rick O’Neil endorsed Path to Progress in its entirety.
“It’s a way for us to save taxpayers money. We’re looking into regionalizing some of the school systems. We’re looking to share services with other communities. Every nickel that you save is a nickel you can do something else with for the taxpayer, whether infrastructure and road improvements or something else,” O’Neil said.
Path to Progress is Sweeney’s approach to lowering property taxes across the state and keeping residents from fleeing New Jersey.
According to the 42nd annual National Movers study, published in January by American moving and relocation company United Van Lines, twice as many residents moved out of New Jersey in 2018 than moved in. Among those who left, about 70 percent said affordability was the deciding factor.
“It means you get to spend more money on your own wants and your own needs, rather than give it to the town. We try to keep it as affordable as possible to live in Highlands as we can, but we still need all the services that the bigger towns need. So why should everyone have a duplication of the same system? It just doesn’t seem right,” O’Neil said.
