TOMS RIVER, NJ – When Chris Christie and Jon Corzine were governors of New Jersey, they passed a series of political and pension reform bills that cut down on rampant political corruption in New Jersey. One of his actions was to end publicly funded pensions for part-time and temporarily elected officials serving on municipal boards and commissions.
This week, those corruption laws blocked Toms River Mayor Maurice Hill from illegally collecting a public pension on his $75,000 annual salary as mayor of Toms River.
Hill, a retired U.S. Navy Admiral and a retired dentist sought to get himself into the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), even though he did not qualify. He sued the PERS and lost. Then he appealed his case to the appellate division of the New Jersey Superior Court, and he lost again.
Mayor Hill, who appears to be in imminent danger of losing his seat in the June GOP primary election may be sent off by the public without another public pension.
“Mayor Hill says he’s about reducing taxes and looking out for the public, but here he is trying to enroll himself to get a nice publicly funded pension; worse, he used township lawyers and township tax dollars to fight his battle,” Councilman Daniel Rodrick said today when asked about the mayor’s attempt to enroll in the state pension system he did not qualify for.
Hill used township attorneys Greg McGuckin and Anthony Merlino to fight his pension court battle. The price paid by taxpayers on legal fees is yet unknown.
“Mayor Hill needs to reimburse the taxpayer and pay back billable hours on his failed attempt to gain access to the public pension system illegally,” Rodrick said. “Hill is the perfect example of the political pension scammers these laws were meant to stop.”
Rodrick estimated that if successful, Hill would have received a publicly paid pension of around $30,000 per year for the rest of his life, paid for by the residents of Toms River for his four-year term as mayor.
Hill was enrolled in PERS as a council member with a $7,500 annual salary. Still, according to state law, specifically NJSA 43:15A-7.5, when he became mayor and switched jobs, he made himself ineligible to continue his pension.
Hill was elected to the Township Council of Toms River and served from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2019. At the time, elected officials could enroll in PERS. Hill was enrolled effective April 1, 2004. In 2019, Hill was elected mayor of Toms River and took office on January 1, 2020. In June 2020, the township’s chief financial officer wrote to the Division to enroll Hill in PERS, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 43:15A-7.5. The Division denied the request because Hill had changed elective office.
In July 2020, Hill asked township counsel to file for PERS pension benefits on his behalf since he could not continue his enrollment. The Division advised Hill could not collect his PERS pension until he severed all employment with the townshipIn July 2020, Hill asked township counsel to file for PERS pension benefits on his behalf since he could not continue his enrollment. The Division advised Hill could not collect his PERS pension until he severed all employment with the township required to be eligible to collect a pension.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office went to bat for Hill and requested the board look at it again, and once again, the board denied Hill.
It cited N.J.S.A. 43:15C-2, which required Hill to enroll in the DCRP instead. Hill argued that the new requirements for elected officials to gain pensions was ‘draconian’ and ‘self-limiting’.
Hill also argued that he was being arbitrarily excluded from collecting a public pension for his four years as mayor.
The court and the appellate court both rejected his claim.
“Hill and those similarly situated were not arbitrarily excluded because they did not qualify for re-enrollment in the first instance. The distinction here does “not exclude a class of persons upon whom it would otherwise operate,” Superior Court judges Whipple, Mawla and Walcott-Henderson declared. “Although Hill asserts the additional number of elected officials that would qualify under his reading of the statute is negligible, he provides no objective support for the proposition.”
“As of the date of enrollment in the system, the elected official’s participation, if any, in another State-administered retirement program on the basis of that elective public office shall be suspended. The elected public official may elect to waive enrollment in the Public Employees’ Retirement System by signing a form prepared by the division,” the law reads.
In the end, Hill will not be leaving office with a publicly funded pension for his $75,000 annual mayoral salary.
Shore News Network reached out to Art Gallagher, Mo Hill’s public relations officer, but did not receive a response on the matter.