Ducey Taking Reduced Salary, Council Benefits Cost Down in 2014

Mayor John Ducey is taking only a portion of the $52,000 salary to which he is entitled, while the same number of Brick council members are taking a health benefits package compared with last year.

Ducey said he is taking 75 percent, or $39,000, of the salary and has committed to being at town hall a minimum of 30 hours per week. He also said he has given up a number of municipal prosecutor appointments in other towns.

"It’s actually a lot more" than 30 hours per week in practice, said Ducey, whose job outside town hall is running his private law office on Herbertsville Road.

The $52,000 mayoral salary was introduced during the administration of former mayor Joseph Scarpelli and became controversial during the administration of former mayor Stephen C. Acropolis after he was appointed to a $92,000 per year position as director of the Toms River Municipal Utilities Authority.

Facing both public criticism and a majority of Democrats on the township council who would have likely taken it away, Acropolis ultimately gave up the mayoral salary.

Ducey, in 2012, proposed an ordinance maintaining the annual salary for Brick's mayor at $52,000 if a mayor did not work full-time elsewhere and limiting it to $15,000 if a mayor worked more than 35 hours a week outside of town hall.

The township council passed the ordinance, but Acropolis vetoed it.

Same Number of Council Members Taking Benefits

While the mayoral salary was controversial under the Acropolis administration, residents have long voiced criticism over township council members taking taxpayer-funded health benefits.

Council members in municipalities that participate in the state's health benefits plan are now barred from taking benefits, but Brick is a self-insured town, meaning local ordinances would dictate whether benefits are available to elected officials. In Brick, the availability of taxpayer-funded benefits has been a long-standing practice.

Four members of the governing body currently accept different variations of coverage, according to documents obtained by Brick Patch through an Open Public Records Act request.

Of the four newest council members, two – Marianna Pontoriero and Heather DeJong – take health benefits. DeJong is enrolled in a single member plan while Pontoriero is enrolled in a plan for two adults.

Council members Paul Mummolo and Andrea Zapcic have both declined benefits. Councilwoman Susan Lydecker, who has never accepted benefits since being elected to the council, also declined.

As in 2013, Councilman James Fozman receives health insurance for two adults and Councilman Robert Moore is enrolled in family health coverage.

According to a separate Open Public Records Act request filed by Patch, single healthcare costs, including prescription, vision and dental coverage, average approximately $10,600. A plan for two adults averages about $23,000 and a family plan averages approximately $27,000.

Despite the same number of council members accepting benefits, fewer are accepting high-cost family plans. The Asbury Park Press this week reported that taxpayers will fund $76,400 in council health insurance costs this year, down from over $100,000 last year.

All of the council members receive a salary except for Zapcic, who declined. Council members receive an $8,000 salary and the council president, Lydecker this year, receives a $9,000 salary.