County Update Focuses on Areas Of Work, Taxes

CORRECTION: An Oct. 12 story of Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton’s address to Coalition of Civic Associations incorrectly stated that he supported the 23-cent per gallon gas tax. While he did not support the bill, he said he will do his utmost to ensure the county gets its share of funding from that source.
CREST HAVEN – The Coalition of Civic Associations (COCA) heard from Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton Oct. 6 on the state of the county. In a wide-ranging discussion, Thornton touched on issues he felt are central challenges for the county going forward.
Budget
Thornton began by saying that the county is in good fiscal shape, managing to keep the operating budget at or below 2 percent increases.
He cautioned the 2017 budget may look higher because the county has moved the Social Services Department budget into the general budget in an effort to have better control over operations and spending. That seemingly 4-percent increase caused by the move reflects no additional spending, but rather is a result of the accounting change.
Thornton discussed the challenges in governing a county of 97,000 that swells to 170,000 when one counts the 40 percent of second residences for individuals absent most of the year. Adding to that, the expansion of a population of 600,000 to 800,000 during the summer season compounds the challenges.
Economic Development
Citing the fact that county administrations “for years” did little to promote economic development, Thornton defended the current allocation of $150,000 annually for investment in economic initiatives under the direction of Freeholder Will Morey. “You have to invest to make money,” said Thornton.
Thornton noted activities at the county airport aimed at making the county a center of drone testing. “We have everything needed, open air space, the skies over the ocean and the facilities that can be developed at the airport,” he said.
The airport is also a center of attention for development of educational programs by Atlantic Cape Community College. Thornton spoke of programs for drone piloting and air traffic controller training. Plans are being discussed to build a mock air traffic control tower to be used by the college.
Additionally, Thornton spoke of the growing number of wineries and breweries which can help extend the tourist season and create agricultural-related jobs. He said he would like to see Cape May County Technical School develop a program in viniculture as part of its agricultural portfolio.
Thornton’s concern for the high levels of non-season unemployment showed as he spoke of a need to tailor social services in ways that encourage rather than discourage work.
Health insurance laws, he added, also make it difficult for employers, including the county, to establish full-time jobs with benefits.
The county economy is heavily dependent on small businesses which are, in turn, dependent on the $6 billion tourism economy. An effort to develop an alternative source of jobs represents a serious challenge for the county, he said.
Asked about the high levels of students exiting county high schools unprepared for college, Thornton acknowledged the problem and agreed that a properly trained workforce was important to economic development.
Correctional Center
Turning to major expenses facing the county, Thornton spoke of the replacement of the Cape May County Correctional Center, an estimated $37-million project.
Thornton said that when he took office in 2012 as freeholder director, he discovered that federal and state agencies had been extending the county short-term waivers for a problem that had been building for years.
Thornton said the current 38-year-old facility was built to hold 168 prisoners, and with some alterations could accommodate 180. However, the average current population of the facility is 250, and has swelled to 300 at times.
The threat from state and federal officials is that the jail would be closed down or forced back to its design levels.
The prospect of having the county pay to house prisoners at other facilities is financially untenable, Thornton said. At $100 a day per individual, the average price such a move would cost, plus added transportation costs for court appearances, the expense per year without building the jail could exceed $11 million.
“I did not want to build a new jail,” Thornton said. “The economics leave us no alternative,” he added.
Bail reform, arriving in 2017, will add to costs. Weekend court space, renovations at the courthouse and added personnel are required. Bail reform may lower the numbers at the jail but add to costs in other ways.
Thornton said that now was the time to bite the bullet on the new facility. With the county’s high bond rating and the prevailing low-interest rates, “If we have to do it, now is the time,” he said.
Bridges and Gas Tax
Thornton said that most county bridges are 70 to 80 years old and toll revenue on them cannot keep up with needed repairs. He hopes that putting E-ZPass on bridges will increase use by tourists in-season and generate added funds.
Thornton noted that the days of available funding from the federal transportation budgets are over. “That money is just not there anymore,” he said.
Replacing the county bridges would run as high as $400 to $600 million and is not an option for the county. The strategy at present is to keep up with priority maintenance, continue to test to ensure structural soundness and do major work when state support is available.
Although South Jersey may be disproportionally hit by the increase in the state gas tax, Thornton said he can support it “as long as the money is used for the right purpose,” meaning the Transportation Trust Fund. “If they divert the funds for other purposes, I am going to lead the revolt,” he said.
Code Blue
“No one in this county is homeless unless they disqualify themselves,” Thornton said, referring to the Code Blue regulations that provide hotel space when weather reaches proscribed levels but also requires the voucher beneficiary to show up at Social Services the next work day.
Failure to show for appointments at Social Services, a persistent problem according to Thornton, will disqualify the applicant from future vouchers.
Outside Code Blue situations, Thornton discussed a program the county tried to establish with the Atlantic City Rescue Mission which would have provided lodging and support services to single individuals homeless in Cape May County. He said the state stepped in and killed the initiative and he is unsure why.
Route 55
Thornton discussed the effort to extend Route 55 to the county in lieu of Routes 47 and 347, both of which he considers “dangerous roads.”
He said there was a study being done for the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization. Also that he would at least like to see these major arteries into the county widened. “Will we get the extension of Route 55?” he asked rhetorically. “Probably not in my lifetime,” he added.
A theme running through the overall discussion on Route 55 was the lack of political muscle South Jersey has in Trenton. The group agreed that to get this project approved, the effort must be “owned” by someone with enough political clout to see the project through.
Evacuation was a related concern.
Thornton said Cape May County is the sixth hardest place to evacuate in the nation. The complexities of an evacuation are compounded if the effort must be attempted during the heavy, population-intense summer season.
Thornton noted the county must react to distant threats because waiting too long to call for an evacuation runs the added risk of flooding on both the Garden State Parkway and Route 47, essentially trapping the population in the county. He praised the efforts of the county’s emergency management personnel and pointed to the success in evacuation prior to Hurricane Irene. The Route 55 project would have an additional benefit in terms of public safety.
Oysters
Thornton touched on the efforts to support and grow the county oyster industry. He spoke of the high quality of the oysters and the fact that local companies have a larger “market that they can supply.”
In Thornton’s opinion, the problem lays in large part with overregulation.
“The State of New Jersey has too many regulations,” he said. “The oyster industry runs into “one hitch after the other.”
Thornton’s overall message seemed to be that the state of the county was healthy, but that significant challenges exist which will force difficult decisions on the allocation of available revenues.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.