Borough may lift hiring freeze on police dept. Mayor cites tax assessor's generosity for hiring of officer BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer METUCHEN - Mayor Edmund O'Brien proposed hiring an additional police officer for the 26-member borough police department, in part due to a North Brunswick tax assessor who added 91 assessments for the borough after the county-mandated deadline, for free. "I almost fell over," said O'Brien when he learned that the tax assessor did not want any money for the work done for the borough. "We were in a search for a new tax assessor, which the county requires all new tax assessors hired by Oct. 1," the mayor said. "The county granted us an extension. The tax assessor from North Brunswick added 91 assessments for the borough after the deadline, and lucky for us, it didn't cost us any money. We went from being $25,000 over the cap in February to right now $15,000 under the cap. The assessments increased $40,000 for the cap." O'Brien floated the possibility of lifting a hiring freeze on both full-time positions in the department in place since January. "At this time, we can propose to add one officer and then sometime in April wait to see what happens once we look at the health insurance policy, and then decide if we can hire the second police officer." Borough officials said filling the second vacant spot in the police department depends on the 4 percent cap legislation, which is part of Gov. Jon Corzine's property tax reform involving the state's health benefit plan, which officials say is more expensive and less efficient than what they are using now. "The two spots for the police officers are in the department's budget, and have always been," said O'Brien. "With $15,000 under the cap, it has provided us with some extra leverage and may provide a buffer. "Without this, the issue was sustainability," O'Brien said. "We didn't want to hire someone in June not knowing that we couldn't cover him or her in January [2008]. It's not fair to anybody and would eventually impact the budget next year." Up until the March 5 council meeting, the borough's police department was still grappling with the administration's decision in January to put a freeze on all open full-time positions, which brought the once-28-member police department down to 26 and became official on Feb. 5 with the resignation of Patrolman Don Heck, a 12-year veteran of the force. The council accepted Patrolman Timothy Hayduk's resignation on Jan. 16. Hayduk had joined the force in February of last year. The Department of Community Affairs Division of Local Government Services conducted an assessment of the police department in 2005 from January to November at the request of the mayor, which caused a stir last March when two reports surfaced. Both reports cite that the department would be more efficient with 29 or even the optimum number of 31 officers. Police Chief James Keane has said that reducing his force by two is a concern because even at the maximum level at 28 police officers, the department was at its bare minimum. O'Brien, at the March 5 council meeting, said that the administration was lucky and skated by this year, but are still dealing with what will happen after the property tax reform has been signed into law by Corzine. "As a calendar year, we can't adopt our budget until the state passes their budget and the state numbers come in [which is usually in late July or early August]," O'Brien said Borough resident Suzanne Andrews, a strong opponent of the freeze on the police department, told the council that concerned residents have started a grassroots support group that is handing out a petition in support of the police department. Councilwoman Cathy Totin said the council would sign the petition, showing their support as well.