Salaries up $1 Million as County Negotiates Law Enforcement Contracts

Contract or no contract, 143 Ocean County law enforcement employees are getting pay raises retroactive to April 1.

Ocean County’s reluctant freeholders approved increases totaling nearly $1 million, pushing the employees up the county salary scale, although the workers in the Sheriff’s Office, Corrections Department, and Prosecutor’s Office are still bargaining for new contracts with the county government.

Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. said the freeholders had to increase the salaries because of a ruling by the state Public Employee Relations Commission that workers should while new contracts are being negotiated.

“I hoped to negotiate from ground zero,’’ Bartlett said. Instead he said some of the workers received pay hikes of up to $6,000 a year before a new contract is signed.

“It’s very unfortunate,’’ he said. “We can’t afford it.’’

Freeholder John P. Kelly said there were different economic times when the PERC precedent was established.

“This will impact negatively on our ability to control costs,’’ Kelly said.