TOMS RIVER – The 2025 budget was introduced with no tax increase from the previous year, but critics say that services such as police have also been cut.
The budget was introduced at the Township Council’s May meeting. The majority of the council voted to introduce it. It’s not made official until another vote at a future meeting. Things can change between then and now, and usually do, as towns receive grants or change priorities.
Township auditor Jerry Conaty, a partner with Holman, Frenia and Allison, gave a brief presentation highlighting certain points, and noted that the public hearing will be at the June 25 meeting.
He noted that the tax rate will remain the same as 2024, .437 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. For an average home, valued at $448,400, the municipal taxes would be $1,960.68.
Although the township collects all of your property taxes, they are only responsible for the municipal portion. Other taxes like school district or county are not included in the municipal budget. They are also not included in this article.
One frame of the PowerPoint presentation said “Significant decreases in payroll and elimination of unnecessary positions at Town Hall” resulted in savings amounting to $5 million.
Noted capitol projects this year include “paving twice as many roads as last year,” adding new parks, extending the Ortley Beach pier, constructing a new pier by the former boatworks in downtown Toms River, and building spray parks.
Council President Justin Lamb called this a “very responsible budget.”
Mayor Daniel Rodrick said the overall budget is going down from last year’s $146 million to this year’s $135 million.
The 2025 budget will see $12 million paid off in bond principal.
In discussing capital projects and debt with a member of the audience, Rodrick said that it is better to pay for projects with available money rather than borrowing for them and paying much more over time due to interest payments.
Resident Julie Adamek said that the township has lost critical and essential positions. She noted that there’s “almost no code enforcement because they were all eliminated. You make it sound that you saved so much money but it’s at the detriment of the quality of life that people are living under.”
She noted needed things like the animal shelter were shut down, but money is spent on “fluff” like fireworks and concerts.
Rodrick said at the end of the meeting that Toms River has a large senior population, many of whom have Social Security as their only source of income. Raising property taxes would impact people like this the most.
Less Police
The budget faced some criticism by residents, most of whom are frequent detractors of the Rodrick administration.
Resident Dana Tormollen asked “how much is saved by decimating the police department and not hiring any new police officers?”
Resident Chris Raimann said that less officers will impact response times.
Lamb answered that “the response time over the Memorial Day weekend was incredible.”
Resident Phil Brilliant said that Toms River Police started 2024 (the beginning of the Rodrick administration) with 163 officers. As of May 1, 2025, they are down 10 to 153. They are expecting to be at 140 by the end of the year due to retirements.
“The acting chief is on medical with retirement eminent,” he said.
A screenshot of an email from Capt. Guy Maire made the rounds on social media recently. Maire said “Chief Sundack reported today that he will be out of work through July 15, 2025. I will continue to be Officer In Charge and look forward to working with everyone to achieve our goals.”
“The administration cancels offers to new candidates and postpones the police academy,” Brilliant said.
Resident Bob Tormollen noted that there weren’t any Toms River Police officers in the Memorial Day parade that took place in town.
A recent post by the official Toms River Township Facebook page said “Mayor Rodrick was disappointed to hear that the Police Foundation and a few officers have cancelled their camp this year. To be abundantly clear, the Police Foundation is a private organization and the Mayor has no control over it. However, we’re happy to inform you that the Mayor has increased the Town’s summer camp capacity to the largest it has ever been and spots in other specialty camps are still available. “
Former Police Chief Mitch Little responded to this online that Rodrick “is completely responsible for the dissolution of the community outreach programs the TRPD participated in. The Foundation just funded them through tireless fundraising initiatives so there was no financial impact to our residents. Obviously police officers are needed to perform these functions, which Rodrick has conveniently made impossible with HIS policies.”
Accusations
Several residents drew a comparison between Silverton EMS and Holiday City Phase II in Silverton. The EMS got shut down last year over accusations of financial impropriety, so why shouldn’t council members be made to resign over similar accusations?
Two members of the council are on the Board of Trustees of Holiday City Phase II. A few weeks ago, News 12 reporter Jim Murdoch posted a video that he said showed investigators removing boxes from Holiday City in Silverton.
Accusations of spending fees inappropriately were made against the Holiday City board by a resident. There have not been any formal charges brought against them.
Silverton First Aid was taken off the road last year over accusations of impropriety.
Rodrick said last year: “We’ve been advised by legal counsel that financial irregularities associated with Silverton EMS are potentially criminal, and the matter is being referred to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. Given what we have learned, I had no choice but to take swift action. We have hired 17 more EMTs and put several additional ambulances on the road.”
There have not been any formal charges brought against them. At the time, the president of Silverton EMS, Kevin Geoghegan, said that he offered township police and the county prosecutor’s office anything they want, but they didn’t investigate anything. He asserted that Silverton EMS was taken off duty because Geoghegan was running for office against one of Rodrick’s political allies.
Police At The Beach
Paul Jeffrey, vice president of the Ortley Beach Voters and Taxpayers Association, asked about why the police were no longer allowed to come to association meetings.
They have a long history of coming to the meetings to keep residents informed about safety matters and scams. The residents were also able to tell the police about their own concerns.
Rodrick said that during campaign season, he didn’t want a township employee coming to the meetings. He didn’t want it to look like the township was favoring a candidate.
The president of the Association, Anthony Colucci, is running for council. The primary is June 10.
Jeffrey said that this would effectively keep police from coming almost the entire year, since the general election is in November.
Later in the meeting, Council President Lamb, who is also running for council, said he attended the association’s May 17 meeting “participating in a presentation with the Army Corps” of engineers about beach replenishment.
