Did anyone see the “Watchdog” column in Saturday’s Asbury Park Press (2/9/13)?  The headline read “Brick MUA pays $93G for commissioners’ health benefits”.  See the attached PDF with the APP article or link to it here.

Political party control recently changed hands in Brick and the new Democratic majority has taken steps to end the provision of health benefits to Municipal Utility Authority board appointees.  Patch readers may recall that I drew attention to this same issue a few weeks ago with regard to the Middletown Sewerage Authority (TOMSA).

Per the APP article, the value of health benefits for some Brick MUA board members is in the range of $26,000 to $33,000 annually!  I was frankly surprised that anyone was even able to get at this information given the difficulty I’ve encountered here in Middletown and suppose the new majority there finally had the pull to obtain it.

The APP article states that “the Brick authority is self-insured, which allows them to make the rules about who is eligible for health benefits.”  Middletown Township is also self-insured for health benefits, but from what I can gather -- at least for current employees if not retirees -- TOMSA is not self-insured.  Instead, TOMSA offers employees several insurance plan options, one of which is a state health benefits plan.  According to the APP article, “under the state health benefits plan, boards and council members are not allowed to take health benefits.”  Surprisingly, however, two TOMSA board members – Chantal Bouw and Joan Smith -- were among those enrolled in the state plan per a list of TOMSA enrollees received from the state last year.

The article offered some other insights, too.  For example, I hadn’t considered that TOMSA board members might be receiving dental coverage from the Authority or that they might be getting full or partial “opt out” payments for benefits they have declined.

Though I’m not sure if TOMSA provides payment for “opting out” of their health plan, Middletown Township does with certain restrictions.  The Township offers no partial “opt out” payments, and any employee covered by another Township plan (e.g., a spouse’s plan) is ineligible.  Township retirees are also ineligible for “opt out” payments, as well as dental and eyewear coverages.

Since TOMSA board members – even those who are actually retired -- are not retirees from the Authority’s perspective, the board members could be receiving full or partial “opt out” payments and dental & eyewear coverage in addition to other benefits.  I have already confirmed that board members have eyewear coverage based on reimbursements that appear on TOMSA payment reports.

Another question is if TOMSA board members are contributing toward their health benefits in line with the 2010 State law that requires it.  They are supposed to be paying the greater of 1.5% of salary or a certain percentage of the insurance premium.  The latter is the far greater of the two for board appointees.

And if board members are being treated like employees during their terms on the board, are they being treated like retirees when terms end, continuing to receive health benefits well into the future?

Of the 7 TOMSA board members listed in the chart below, one -- Anthony DeMarco -- is a new appointee and therefore ineligible for health or pension benefits, though whether or not he is receiving benefits has not been verified.

I may never know the answer to these questions because TOMSA keeps this information well hidden.  I can tell you that with the exception of the few report entries that I’ve already mentioned, there is nothing that reveals what benefits board members are receiving or what the costs of those benefits are.  That information has been requested but has been denied -- unlawfully denied, in fact -- and it might take a change of guard like that in Brick Township to get it.  

Brick council members have said they will appoint to the MUA board only people who will decline the benefits.  While that’s a move in the right direction, I have to wonder why council members don’t just pass an ordinance eliminating the benefits altogether.  That raises the question of whether or not an independent Authority would need to comply with such an ordinance.  In fact, TOMSA has not seen fit to comply with the Middletown ordinance (codified in Chapter 47, section 4 of the Twp administrative code) that states that TOMSA board members shall receive no compensation other than salary.  However, the resistance of the majority on the Township Committee to pass an ordinance in 2009 stripping benefits for all board appointees suggests that such an ordinance may have teeth. 

One thing is certain, though – greater oversight and transparency are needed and won’t happen until there is a change of political control in the Township.  Middletown has been under Republican control now for three and a half decades.

TOMSA BOARD APPOINTEES: