Monday meeting in Ewing to discuss ways to garner $1.

5M
Saturday, March 28, 2009

By JOAN GALLER
Staff Writer

EWING — Hoping to secure $1.5 million in state aid, Ewing Township Council will meet at noon Monday
to pass a resolution applying for permission to reduce its pension contributions by 50 percent.

The special council session was called to meet the April 1 deadline for submitting the application to the
Department of Community Affairs, Local Finance Board.

Failure to pass the resolution would mean that Ewing has no chance of getting state aid, said Mayor Jack
Ball.

“This is something that was enacted by the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, and municipalities were
notified on March 23 that they have until April 1 to pass a resolution to get permission for a reduced
pension contribution for their firemen, police and township employees,” Ball said.

The state is giving us this option to help us in terms of lessening the local tax burden,” the mayor said.

“We’re allowed to reduce our police and fire retirement pension contribution by $910,885 and the public
employee retirement system contribution by $239,776,” Ball said.

This is half of the regular pension contribution, he added, and it must be paid with interest within 15 years.

“If we want to be considered for any kind of state aid, this resolution must be passed,” the mayor added.

Elected officials are also eligible for pensions, but Ball said he is not enrolled.

“Should Ewing have a windfall next year, we could pay this off sooner,” Ball said.

Ewing requested $1.5 million in extraordinary state aid to offset the same shortfall in the township’s Fiscal
2009 budget, which began July 1, 2008, the mayor said, “but we haven’t heard ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ ”

“There’s never a guarantee for state aid, but if you don’t apply for this pension deferral, there will be
absolutely no state aid,” Ball said.

Adding her thoughts on the special meeting, Council President Kathleen Wollert said “I would be highly
surprised if we get the full $1.5 million in extraordinary state aid, which is extremely limited this year.”

Wollert said the council resolution applying to the state to defer the pension payments “does not bind us
to doing the deferral, it allows us to do so, if we want to be considered by the state for extraordinary aid.”

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