Bridge Commission to Shift to Part-timers

CREST HAVEN – The Cape May County Bridge Commission brings in close to $3.87 million annually in tolls from among its five Ocean Drive bridges.
That may seem like a big number, but it’s a small fraction compared to the total county spending. The Cape May County Freeholders approved a $146.3 million budget this year. The New Jersey budget that was at the center of the recent government shutdown? That weighed in at $34.7 billion.
Still, it seems like most could think of something to do with almost $4 million. For the Bridge Commission, it’s barely enough to squeak by.
That money from tolls collected on the county bridges is nowhere near enough to replace those bridges, most of which are in poor condition and date from the 1940s. In truth, it’s not even enough to maintain them.
The largest expense for the public agency is its own operation.
The 2017 budget for the Bridge Commission, as posted on Cape May County’s website, puts salaries and wages at just over $1 million. Benefits bring that up over $1.8 million, and the wages and benefits for the administration are close to another half million.
As approved unanimously by the three-member commission last October, the other big number is $401,000 for the cost of operations, including $50,000 for an armored car service to collect all those dollars and quarters, $45,000 for utilities and other similar expenses. The biggest number under the cost of operations is $250,000 for expenses.
Patrick Rosenello, the chairman of the commission’s board of directors, said the commission is trying to keep spending down. In a recent interview, he said the commission used to have its own building in the Crest Haven complex, but has consolidated, and has clarified and formalized shared service agreements with the county.
“We’ve clarified the roles and responsibilities of each entity,” he said.
Ways to Reduce Expenses
To cut costs, the commission has put a hiring freeze in place for new full-time employees. Nobody gets a raise until contracts are re-negotiated when the current union contract expires in 2019.
Also, the starting rate for new employees is dropping from $15.48 an hour to $11.50 an hour, a move he said current employees backed.
Toll collector jobs have long been sought after positions in Cape May County, where year-round jobs with benefits can be hard to find. But the commission wants to move toward using more part-time and seasonal employees.
The commission has 39 employees. Rosenello believes of those there are seven full-time toll collectors.
“We’ve gone a long way in terms of streamlining the commission,” he said.
“As the full-timers retire, we don’t replace them with full-time people,” said Karen Coughlin, the executive director of the commission. “We do that just to save on health insurance and other benefits.”
E-Z Pass Coming
E-Z Pass, the electronic toll collection behemoth present on highways in 16 Northeast states, is coming to Cape May County toll bridges this year. So is a toll hike, according to budget documents.
“The Cape May County Bridge Commission is taking steps to reduce the deficit in the budget,” reads a portion of the adopted budget document, outlining the move to reduce full-time staff.
It continues: “The commission is also planning to implement a toll increase in the next year to increase revenue, as well as to implement E-Z Pass system on the bridges before the summer of 2017.
“The E-Z Pass system will provide a much more efficient toll system than is currently utilized on the toll bridges. It will also allow for a decrease in staffing once fully operational.”
The toll increase will be delayed, at least until the E-Z Pass system is up and running. A press release in March said the toll increase set for June 1 was postponed, not canceled.
“The commission has determined that a toll increase mid-summer would be unnecessarily complicated, confusing, and burdensome to bridge customers and therefore, decided to postpone any discussion of a toll increase until after such time as E-Z Pass is fully functional,” read the release.
The release quoted Coughlin as indicating there was some confusion about the expense of installing the new system’s impact on a toll hike.
Antiquated System
“The fact is that the current tolling system on the bridges is antiquated and in immediate need of upgrading and replacement,” stated Coughlin.
“The new E-Z Pass tolling system is the logical new system for the commission to invest in and the decision to upgrade our system to E-Z Pass has minimal bearing on any possible future toll increase.”
Tolls are $1.50 for cars. A few years ago, in a move to increase efficiency, the commission switched to collecting tolls only one way on each bridge, at the same time doubling the cost from 75 cents each way. The change was aimed at improving traffic while still bringing in the same amount in tolls.
Ready Soon
E-Z Pass is behind the original projections, but Rosenello said it should be ready soon.
“It’s coming along,” he said. He cited issues with the Townsend’s Inlet Bridge, which closed the span connecting Avalon and Sea Isle City this spring, as part of the reason for the delay.
“We didn’t want construction in the peak of the season. We’re going to start work at the end of summer, for a roll-out at the end of this year or early next year.”
The biggest expense in installing the E-Z Pass system is the tolling system, Rosenello said, which he described as the system that tracks the number of cars using each bridge, to reconcile the amount collected at each toll booth.
“We need a new tolling system. Our existing one is ancient,” he said. Strips across the roadway help keep track of the number of cars. While county officials say four of the five bridges in the Ocean Drive system are antiquated and ready to be replaced, the toll system, too, is a decidedly analog setup.
Regular users can buy discount books with tickets for use at the tolls, which Rosenello said remains very popular, but most of the money comes in cash.
Calling D.C.
Cape May County established the Bridge Commission in the 1930s. Its mission was to establish connections between the county’s barrier island communities.
With an infusion of federal money from Roosevelt’s New Deal, the system was established through the 1940s, starting with the Middle Thorofare Bridge, linking Five Mile Beach to Lower Township and Cape May.
One bridge, Ocean City-Longport, in the Ocean Drive system has been replaced, with most of the money again coming from the federal government.
The $50-million new bridge opened in 2002 and is tall enough that no drawbridge is needed. That’s what officials would like to see for the four other spans.
But that project was completed more than a decade ago.
County officials are working to line up fresh federal money to replace the bridges, pinning hopes on promises of big infrastructure spending from President Trump.
So far, Washington’s focus has been on the health insurance bill aimed at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. Most analysts say the federal budget is likely to be next. But lawmakers have told national media outlets that they plan to take up infrastructure before the year’s end.
Needed: $200 Million
County officials have said in previous interviews that the estimated $200 million needed for a new bridge over Middle Thorofare is out of reach without outside cash. In the meantime, the county is spending money to keep the bridges operational.
A recent bond ordinance approved by the freeholders included $4 million for work on county bridges, and just over $4 million more for the Bridge Commission, for the Townsend’s Inlet Bridge.
“This is a point that people don’t realize: The Bridge Commission is only responsible for the operation of the bridges. We handle the bridge operations and the toll collectors. But the county is responsible for all maintenance and capital improvements of the bridges,” said Rosenello.
As has everyone else interviewed for this series, Rosenello described the four toll bridges as functionally obsolete. He said the commission would do its best to support County Engineer Dale Foster in his efforts to get the bridges replaced, but again, as others have said, he doesn’t see much chance without the federal government getting involved.
Biggest Concern
In previous interviews, Foster said Middle Thorofare was his biggest worry, not only because of its placement between a major commercial fishing fleet and the ocean but also because it sees so much traffic.
In 2015, more than 600,000 cars and trucks used the bridge, according to data included in accountant Leon Costello’s audit and it brought in almost $865,000 in tolls.
That put it slightly ahead of the Ocean City-Longport Bridge, which saw a little over 566,500 vehicles in the same period, and way past the three other bridges. For Corson’s Inlet Bridge, the total number of vehicles was 290,134, followed by Grassy Sound at 190,976 and Townsend’s Inlet at 150,736.
A Rare Breed
The only other Bridge Commission in New Jersey is the Burlington County Bridge Commission, according to Rosenello. That commission operates eight bridges, including the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge and the Burlington-Bristol Bridge over the Delaware River.
The Cape May County Bridge Commission indicates that it has received positive feedback on plans to bring in E-Z Pass, according to a posted statement.
Good Report
The most recent audit found no problems with the Bridge Commission operation. “We hereby certify that toll revenues collected by the Cape May County Bridge Commission in the state of New Jersey for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015, were used for the proper operations and maintenance of the toll facilities,” reads a statement signed by Costello in the most recent available audit.
According to Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton, by law, the county can’t collect tolls. That means without the commission; the toll revenue would stop.
But if the revenue from the tolls is mostly covering the toll collection, does that still make sense?
Bridges Must Be Manned
Four of the five toll bridges are draw bridges, and must legally be staffed. The toll takers are also the bridge tenders, and without them, the county would still have to pay for someone to raise and lower the bridges, Rosenello said.
In some instances, the commission has sought and received permission from the Coast Guard to leave the bridges unstaffed, for instance on winter nights when there is very little toll revenue and even less chance of a request for a bridge opening.
But whoever operates the bridges has a legal obligation to keep the waterways open to navigation.
According to Foster, the legal precedent is that boats were around before cars, and thus have the right of way.
But if Foster gets everything he wants – four new fixed span bridges to replace the remaining drawbridges – would it then make sense to end the Bridge Commission?
Rosenello responded that it would take decades for those bridges to be replaced. But how about after those decades?
“I think that’s a question for the freeholders. It’s their decision,” he said.
“To build and maintain bridges is a very expensive endeavor. Is it paid for 100 percent by the taxpayers of Cape May County, or offset by a user fee?” he said.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.