newjerseynewsroom.com

BY ALICIA CRUZ

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Citing morality, Medford's acting Manager requested Tuesday that council members lay him off in light of recent cuts to the city's police force. Stephen Addezio described his decision as a "difficult choice," but said he wanted to be the first to go.

Four police officers, along with nine other Township employees from the fire department and public works received layoff notices Monday, effective May 2. To make matters worse, three vacancies left by retiring officers will not be filled and the five positions vacated last year remain unfilled, the Courier Post reported.

According to the Medford Sun, a letter sent to residents by Medford Deputy Mayor Mark Sander indicated that the layoffs are necessary in order to plug an over $2.3 million deficit in the Townships budget should voters not pass a pending municipal referendum on April 27 to raise local purpose tax more than 25 percent over the state mandated two-percent cap. If that happens, Sander says the increase will be capped at 2.93 cents and that means drastic cutbacks in staff and municipal services.

If voters approve the additional $2,377,015 in spending, residents will see a spike in the local purpose property tax of 16.4 cents ($.495 to $.660 cents). That means a $324.93 annual increase for the average home assessed at $200,827. The numbers are high, and that only means keeping "most existing services."

Councilman Dave Brown said coupled with the cost increase to health care and pension benefits, if the referendum fails the Township would see “tremendous layoffs across the board," PhillyBurbs.com reported.

Though Medford Police Captain Keith McInninch warned that the layoffs could affect public safety, council members, who said they do not want to cut law enforcement jobs, blamed the fiscal crisis and the fact that the police department represents the bulk of the Townships payroll.

Christopher Schultz, the former manager of Moorestown, will begin his first day as Medford's new manager on May 18 at a pay rate of $115,000 annually.