UPDATED: Galloway Township Mayor Don Purdy Among Those Calling for Sick Time Reform

Galloway Township Mayor Don Purdy was one of 234 mayors who joined Gov. Chris Christie in calling for the legislature to pass sick and vacation pay reform on Thursday, Dec. 8.

The group was a bipartisan to save taxpayer dollars and deliver critical budget relief to municipalities, the governor’s office stated.

Purdy would like to see a “use it or lose it” policy put in place.

“It’s not vacation time. It’s designed for if you're sick, but some people use it as part of their retirement plan,” Purdy said, adding that the amount paid for sick time evolves over the years with a person’s pay rate.

“If you start now making $10 an hour, you get raises and promotions and your sick time ends up being your rate at the time you retire,” Purdy said. “Municipalities can’t budget for that.

“The governor’s leash is tightening with health care, and a lot of people are retiring. The payouts are incredible.”

According to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Galloway currently would owe $90,522.73 in accumulated sick and vacation time. The average taxpayer would have to contribute $5.53 a piece to cover this amount.

He said Galloway Township is “ahead of the curve” on this issue, as there is a cap on sick time pay, a policy he believes has been in place for eight or nine years.

“If a police officer is making $100,000 a year and he’s saved up a bunch of sick time, the most he can get when he’s retiring is $25,000,” Purdy said. “It was good that the agreed to that. Galloway’s a little ahead of the curve, but it still needs to be adjusted.”

Purdy said one solution might be to lock in someone’s pay rate to the sick time.

“If you start in 2011 making $22,000, that’s what you’re locked into for that year,” Purdy said. “Then if you get a raise in 2012 , you’re locked into that rate for that year, but that might still be a budgetary mess. The way it’s designed is to be a perk for an employee. If you get sick, you get compensated, but people are using it as part of their retirement plan.”

Eleven mayors joined Christie at his press conference Thursday morning, but Purdy wasn’t able to be there in person.

According to the governor’s office, liabilities facing taxpayers across the state for unused sick and vacation day benefits total more than $825 million. According to the governor’s office, public workers in Atlantic City are owed $34.6 million in accumulated sick and vacation time.

Of the 234 mayors who signed on to Christie’s call for action, 11 are from Atlantic County, including Purdy. The others include: Philip Guenther, of Brigantine; Carol Foster, of Corbin City; Joseph Kuehner, of Egg Harbor City; Joe Venezia, of Estell Manor; Amy Gatto, of Hamilton; Stephen DiDonato, of Hammonton; Michael Becker, of Margate; Vince Mazzeo, of Northfield; Gary Giberson, of Port Republic; and John Glasser, of Somers Point.