Brick, NJ – Last year, in an effort to reign in the costs of government, the Township Council began a policy of evaluating the need for new hires following a retirement.  This policy has cut nearly $1 million from this year’s Township budget.

“The biggest portion of our municipal budget is personnel.  In the past, when someone retired, they were immediately replaced with a new hire.  This practice had to stop if we were to stabilize the cost of providing services,” said Mayor Stephen Acropolis, who was Council President when the policy was installed.  “The numbers show that we are succeeding.”

Since January 1, 2007, the new policy has enabled the Township to cut $949,632 in salaries from the budget.  “This is a significant amount of money,” said Mayor Acropolis.  “It is about two full cents on the tax rate that we have saved.”

Mayor Acropolis says that the Township now looks internally first to fill job vacancies.  “Moving current employees into vacancies translates into savings in both the short and long terms,” said Mayor Acropolis.  “In addition to not having to add a salary to the budget, we save in benefits and other costs.  This is the main reason we make every effort to fill jobs from within.”

Mayor Acropolis notes that not every job gets filled after a retirement.  “The previous administration created a number of jobs that are no longer needed.  We have no intention of filling those positions again,” said Mayor Acropolis.  “Since last year, ten employees have left and have not been replaced at all.”

Since the new administration began in November, four employees have been hired.  “Even taking into account the few new hires that have been made in conjunction with the restructuring of our government to make it more efficient, we have still been able to save nearly $1 million,” said Mayor Acropolis.

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