Committee to state: Keep your pension money BY DAN NEWMAN Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN - In a recently adopted resolution, the mayor and Township Committee called on the governor and the state Legislature to include pension system reforms among the property tax relief initiatives they are considering. The committee wants the state to regulate or altogether eliminate the eligibility and inclusion of part-time elected or appointed officials in the pension system and to cap the payments that may be made to these people. "[Gov.] Jon Corzine ran a platform of tax reform and nothing has happened," Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said. "Something needs to change. People in New Jersey need relief from escalating property tax bills. Middletown has been able to hold property tax increases well below the state or Monmouth County average, but it is becoming increasingly difficult." Scharfenberger said that Middletown and every other municipality have little to say on the matter and that the decisions must come from the state. "Right now things are in limbo," Scharfenberger explained. "I'm always trying to stay in touch with [Assemblywoman] Amy Handlin and [state Sen.] Joe Kyrillos ... to see what the status is. Also, any sort of reform like this could take a while. We're hoping that something happens soon." Also, as part of the resolution, the committee is urging the state to examine state tax policies, employee pension and health benefit mandates, and state aid to schools and other expensive directives. "The governor and Legislature need to pass the pending legislation it has proposed as a first step towards creating real property tax relief in the future," Scharfenberger said. In January, Committeeman Patrick Short, the lone Democrat in the group, called on his fellow committee members to not accept the benefits offered to them in the interest of saving taxpayer dollars. Short contended that it was wrong for anyone but full-time employees of the township to accept those benefits. Democratic candidate for 13th District Assembly Patricia Walsh said she was in favor of the measures proposed in the resolution. "By having part-time employees of the township receive benefits, it leads to an additional cost to taxpayers and I don't think it's a good idea," Walsh said. "We should be offering these things to full-timers. This is something that legislators in Trenton will need to deal with."