LONGPORT – As the Board of Commissioners considers undoing the borough’s lifeguard pension, Mayor Patrick Armstong, a firefighter and longtime member of the Longport Beach Patrol, said he would like to hold off making any decisions until the lifeguard’s existing collective bargaining agreement and a second round of financials on pension costs can be reviewed.
At the Aug. 20 meeting, he said the commissioners who adopted the borough’s pension ordinance in 1981 may have been “ahead of the game.”
“Maybe they knew the value of these men and women who are going over to Seaview Harbor Marina, going to our turn around, attaching a defibrillator and saving these people’s lives,” he said.
Solicitor Michael Affanato explained that the NJ State Comptroller has determined that smaller Class 4 municipalities along the coast, such as Longport, do not have to provide pensions for part-time positions.
They have been “overly generous” granting pensions to lifeguards who work three months out of the year, some whom “double dip” by collecting other government pensions for jobs as teachers and firefighters, the comptroller said in his report.
“The state needs to scrap the pension mandate. It saddles a small number of municipalities with a significant financial burden, and it just doesn’t make sense to give lifelong pensions for seasonal jobs,” Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh said in a release.
The comptroller reviewed municipal audits and actuarial reports using data from 2020-2022, which estimated six municipalities, Atlantic City, Brigantine, Longport, Margate, Sea Isle City, and Ventnor, have $37 million in pension liabilities, of which $34.2 million is unfunded.
According to CFO Jenna Kelly, the borough budgeted $130,000 for lifeguard pensions this year to help catch up with past years when it was underfunded. The borough collects 4% contributions from its 60 lifeguards and matches that amount. Enrollment is not optional, she said.
There are presently 16 retired lifeguards collecting pensions. To collect from the system, lifeguards must have 20 years of service and be at least 45 years old when they retire.
An actuary has estimated Longport’s contribution to the pension system should be about $150,000 to as much as $255,000 a year. The borough has commissioned a second actuarial report to estimate its future needs.
Affanato said he discussed the borough’s 1981 pension ordinance individually with the commissioners and Business Administrator Patrick Dellane, who agreed the best approach for the borough is to undo the pension ordinance for new guards hired after Jan. 1, 2026.
“It would only be new hires coming on 1-1-26 that would not be entitled to a pension,” he said.
Affanato said it will take “decades to undo the pension system” which will remain in effect for existing staff.
“It is clear from the Comptroller’s Office and my review of case law that we do not have to have this pension,” he said.
The fairest way to eliminate the pension is not through a buyout or over a time period but to simply eliminate it for new hires, he said.
Commissioners Jim Ulmer and Dan Lawler said they were OK with creating an ordinance to eliminate pensions for newly hired guards starting in January.
Armstrong, a lifeguard currently enrolled in the pension system, will be required to abstain from formally voting on the issue; however, he voiced his opinion on the matter.
He said lifeguards put their lives on the line to better the community and are there whenever needed to help save lives. Comparing public safety costs for neighboring Margate, where he works as deputy chief, he said Longport taxpayers benefit from the services of volunteer firefighters and EMTs, and lifeguards working the beach are often first on the scene of rescues.
“Surely, this is the cost of doing business and maybe the lifeguards are worth it,” he said.
Armstrong said he would like to review the lifeguard’s collective bargaining agreement and get a second review of pension costs. The borough’s contract with lifeguards expires at the end of this year.
In a related matter, the board appointed three members of the four-member Lifeguard Pension Board, which reviews requirements for membership, retirement and funding. Appointees are Mary Patricia McKenna, Maxwell Mittleman and Madelyn Fox, who will serve four-year terms.
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