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No More Stipends For Planning, Zoning Board Members
By Catherine Snipe
It may be one of the few townships that pay its planning and zoning board members a stipend for their service. But Brick may vote to change that at its meeting this month.
The township council is working toward removing the payments its zoning and planning board members receive to attend meetings.
Considering that Brick may be the only township that pays these board members a stipend, according to township council President Stephen Acropolis, the decision may be an easy one. Especially since it will save the township about $60,000 and the payment is not that large to each individual member, he said.
Not that the stipend is motivation to volunteer, Mayor Dan Kelly said.
"I don't think any member is there to collect a check," said Kelly, who previously served as the planning board chairman. He said he was surprised to receive a check in the mail a couple of weeks after his first meeting years ago. It's never a large amount, totaling about $30.
But, council members said, that adds up, considering the planning and zoning boards may meet four times a month.
"For me, it's totally a budget issue," Acropolis said. The township may have to raise taxes this year, but it first wants to find as many ways to cut spending as possible.
Paying the board members, Councilwoman Ruthanne Scaturro said, "contradicts the spirit of volunteerism. This is what it's all about: trying to give something back."
It's also a matter of fairness, council members argued. The school board does not pay its members a stipend, despite the hours put in, said Councilman Joseph Sangiovanni, a former member of the school board.
However, Councilman Dan Toth said the amount of gas spent by board members going out to the application sites adds up.
"They spend a good amount time," Toth said. Maybe, there could be a reimbursement instead of a guaranteed stipend, he suggested.
Would the township risk losing board members by cutting off the stipend?
"If someone is serving on a board for a $50 check, we probably don't want them on the board to begin with," Acropolis said. He said he's unsure of how, when or why the township decided to offer a stipend to the planning and zoning board members.
Township attorney Jean Cipriani said the she's never seen another town with a system like this. The county planning board also offers no compensation to its members, she said.
"So far, we haven't heard a great outcry from residents demanding we pay this," Acropolis said.
The council will introduce the changes, before putting it to formal vote two weeks after.
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