60 Furloughs Coming In Toms River Amid Coronvirus Crisis

TOMS RIVER, NJ — More than 60 Toms River Township employees will be furloughed as the township deals with the financial stresses of the efforts to slow the spread of the new coronavirus across New Jersey.

The furloughs, however, are not voluntary. On Wednesday, Toms River Mayor Maurice Hill issued a correction to a statement he made at Tuesday's council meeting, saying the furloughs are involuntary.

"At last night’s Council meeting I referred to the furloughs as voluntary and I would like to correct that statement," Hill said. "The furloughs were involuntary and implemented with the cooperation of our township labor unions who voluntarily waived the contractual 45-day notification period for such an action, which is due to the severe impact of COVID 19."

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Hill said the furloughs are in addition to cuts that were made to confidential employee positions when he took office.

Of 44 confidential employee positions, seven were eliminated in the first quarter of 2020, and the cuts have saved the township more than $500,000, Hill said. Some of the cuts were the result of retirements and resignations, others were eliminated through consolidation and restructuring of work. The designation "confidential" typically is given to employees handling confidential information, such as contracts that are under negotiation.

The human resources division was restructured, and several divisions were consolidated into a new Department of Community Development, Hill said. On Tuesday night the council approved the appointment of Township Engineer Robert Chankalian as director of the department, with a $4,000 increase in salary.

"We are committed to increasing efficiencies and cost savings in the way Toms River does business and are looking forward to working with the council on their efficiency study to identify additional savings to the taxpayer," Hill said.

A team of township adminstrators will be looking for other ways to mitigate the financial impact. The team is Business Administrator Don Guardian, Chief Financial Officer Alex Davidson, Assistant Business Administrator Lou Amoruso and Personnel Division Manager Tara Lewczak.

The savings so far help ease the pressures brought by the closures due to efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Thousands of New Jersey residents are unemployed as businesses across the state have been forced to shut down or reduce services because of the outbreak, which has sickened more than 68,000 people across the state as of Tuesday. Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

Hill said the more than 60 people being furloughed include a mix of blue collar and white collar workers, and seven are supervisors, and account for about 10 percent of the township's work force. In addition, 104 part-time employees are being furloughed. More than $250,000 will be saved every two weeks, Hill said.

It is unclear how long the furloughs will last. "It depends on how long it takes to get the economy going again," Hill said.

While department heads were asked to identify positions that could be subject to furloughs, Hill said the township asked for volunteers first, and Hill on Tuesday night thanked the employees who had volunteered.

Essential services, including police, EMS, volunteer fire service, sanitation and recycling, and senior services are continuing to operate. Construction services are moving forward, he said, because much of the construction going on in Toms River falls under exemptions in Gov. Phil Murphy's order last week that curtailed construction work, Hill said.

Township employees have been working in Town Hall and remotely to address residents' needs.

Hill said it's not clear what the township will be receiving in terms of property tax payments, which as of Tuesday morning were still scheduled to be due May 1.

The township is anticipating receiving at least some property taxes from those whose mortgage companies make the tax payments. That makes up about 60 percent of the property taxes paid in the township, he said. Of the remaining 40 percent, some comes from people who likely already put that money aside, Hill said. For homeowners who pay their property taxes directly but are out of work right now, "it's hard to know (what will happen)," he said.

Note: This article has been updated to correct the number of confidential employee positions that were eliminated. Patch regrets the error. It additionally was updated Wednesday morning with the correction from Hill.

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