Moorestown Tackling Staff Shortages In This Year's Budget

MOORESTOWN, NJ — When introduced to the public, Moorestown’s proposed budget is expected to include a 3.26 percent tax increase. Part of this is a 2.51 percent increase in salaries and wages for township employees, up to $8,948,192 from $8,728,783, according to a copy of the draft budget provided to Patch.

On Monday night, township officials pointed to a need to fill vacant positions within township government that remained unfilled due to the coronavirus pandemic as part of the need for that increase. Those positions are in the police department, the public works department, and the township’s IT department.

One police officer retired and was never replaced. Police Chief Lee Lieber said the number of officers has been reduced from 39 in the early part of the 2000s to 33 now. They’ve been using part-time special law enforcement officers (SLEOs) as a workaround since 2013.

“They’re only able to work a maximum of 20 hours a week,” Lieber said. “And they want to move on to full-time jobs, so we can’t hold onto them for too long.”

The SLEOs receive the same training as the department’s full-time officers, making them prime candidates for full-time positions elsewhere, Lieber said. The police department can have up to eight SLEOs, but they’re having a hard time finding any officers right now.

The ones they do have were permitted to work full-time during the pandemic, but won't be once it ends. Council members expressed concerns about an increasing population and a dwindling police force.

“This is an opportunity for us to support the police department with our check book,” Councilman Dave Zipin said.

“There’s a lot of things that can occur,” Merchel said. “We might have an officer in the reserves, and then someone gets injured, that’s when you see the impact. I think 34 is a good number.”

The Department of Public Works was in need of a mechanic and two road workers, and one of the road worker positions was filled, according to Public Works Director Doug Nims. The other two positions were temporarily postponed by the onset of the pandemic.

A mechanic has been hired since then, but instead of adding another road worker, Nims said another person should be added to the Department of Parks and Recreation, which continues to be understaffed.

“We had 84 employees when I was hired, now we have 40,” Nims said. “The position can be moved wherever we need it. We need it in Parks and Rec right now. We have 100 places where we need the grass cut.”

The department already outsources lawn mowing for the athletic fields, town hall and police station, but they can’t outsource for the other areas that need to be maintained, Nims said. Merchel also said that if the township hires employees to cut the lawn, those employees can also be used elsewhere when needed.

The department typically has four people they use seasonally, but they only have one right now, Nims said. Employees must be 18 years of age or older to do seasonal work.

The township has one person working in the IT department. That person handles all the township’s computer issues, including managing the website and social media, and answering questions about issues township employees are having with their technology.

The proposal is to hire two part-time employees who can help decrease that burden. Merchel said shared services isn’t an option because if there were a disaster, the township techs that were being shared would naturally focus on their own municipality first, leaving the others at a disadvantage.

If the draft budget is introduced and ultimately approved, the average homeowner would see an increase of $68.69 next year. The owner of the average Moorestown home assessed at $457,887 would now pay $1,964.34 in taxes annually, up from $1,895.65 the last two years.

No official action has been taken on any aspect of the budget. Read more here: Moorestown’s Draft Budget Includes Tax Increase