Sussex County Commissioner Chris Carney has suggested giving taxpayers a break from funding the open space program, saving $395,000. An article in NorthJersey.com states a total of 47,761 homeowners in Sussex County in 2024, that amounts to a savings of approximately $8 per taxpayer, add business property owners and the savings won’t buy a cup of coffee.
If the commissioners are sincere about saving taxpayers money, they should have a study done on how some southern states save taxpayers money by providing services at the county level. An example of the savings that would come from services at the county level is to look at the Sheriff departments. New Jersey has 21 sheriffs, one for each county, but the state has approximately 460 police chiefs with salaries near or above $200,000 plus benefits. Add to that, lower ranks and you begin to understand why the state has the highest property taxes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there, every town has its own DPW with a front-end loader, mini excavator, backhoe, skid steer multiple dump trucks, large and small. The over lapping of services is endless. Along with thousands of unnecessary salaries comes excessive pension contributions that NJ taxpayer’s shoulder.
For workers enrolled in the Public Employees’ Retirement System, taxpayers are making a contribution of 17.11 percent of the employee’s salary, and for employee’s enrolled in the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System, the contribution rate is 36.51 percent of salary.
To better understand, Newton’s police chief’s salary for 2026 will be $190,000, if the town’s taxpayers make a pension contribution of $71,194.50 it will bring the total to $261,194.50, add health insurance, personal car and other perks / benefits and the small quiet town has a position paying close to $300,000. In 2024, Newton’s estimated pension contribution for law enforcement was $840,932.00, and $590,603.00 for the remaining employees, totaling $1,431,535.00. Sussex County Commissioners need to inquire how southern states provide services at the county level and implement those same practices in the county, and serve as a bellwether for the rest of the state.
Tris Tristram
Newton
