Employee Contracts, Health Care Focus of Manasquan Budget Meeting

Manasquan’s elected officials and professionals gathered at Borough Hall early Saturday to begin outlining the 2012 budget, the first of several weekend meetings scheduled to hammer out the process.

Township Administrator Joseph DeIorio has been meeting with representatives from each borough department to discuss their needs for this year. DeIorio said he will continue meeting with various departments, such as the beach, water and sewer and public works, in hopes of introducing the 2012 municipal budget by March for a May 7 adoption.

The bulk of the meeting was held in closed session to discuss employee contracts and health-care costs. Prior to the closed session, DeIorio said borough employee contracts expire at the end of the year and officials would have to iron out the details of how health-care costs will factor into the terms of next year’s contracts.

With insurance premiums set to rise 21 percent this year, DeIorio said the borough would have to “do something.”

Resident Louis Cocozza, of Potter Avenue, during the public portion of the meeting said the borough might stand to save a considerable amount on premium costs by abandoning its Joint Insurance Fund, or JIF — an agreement in which several towns join to offer a pooled insurance plan to their employees at a less expensive rate than if each town sought individual insurance plans.

Cocozza said that a former mayor of a nearby town was able to prevent his employee insurance costs from rising for 10 years by not participating in a JIF and instead taking advantage of the “open market” and “power of competition” by pitting insurers against one another to keep prices down.  

"That's an opportunity for the borough to go out and investigate," said Cocozza. "We can look at some pretty significant cost savings."

DeIorio said he has started looking into other insurance options and met with a representative from regional healthcare network Magnacare, the borough payroll clerk and a JIF representative just last week to discuss alternatives.

In a phone call after the meeting, Mayor George Dempsey said that during the closed session a presentation was given on health-care plan options. No action was taken, he said.

The state has once again imposed a 2 percent property tax levy cap for 2012. The borough last year chose to hold itself to the cap, foregoing some exceptions to that 2 percent rule that the state allows municipalities, DeIorio said.

The next budget meeting is set for Saturday, Jan. 21 at 9 a.m. in borough hall, 201 East Main St.