Borough May Shift Public Assistance to County

The will vote on a resolution transferring the general public assistance program to Morris County.

According to the resolution, Mayor Bruce Harris and the council decided "it would be in the best interest of the residents and taxpayers of the borough" to transfer public assistance services to the county "for reasons of economy and efficiency."

Council President James Lonergan serves as the council's liaison to the Local Assistance Board. "The demand for these types of services has been very low in Chatham, with only a few cases ongoing at most times, and no open cases at the time," Lonergan said.

Lonergan said Morris County already provides public assistance to "most towns already" in the county, and that the borough "will retain the local Care & Share program so we can privately continue to support any resident in need."

If the resolution passes, the part-time position of welfare director will be abolished. The move will save the borough between about $11,000 and $13,500 per yer, according to Lonergan.

A second resolution on the agenda for the council's Monday night meeting establishes a Local Assistance Advisory Committee in place of the Local Assistance Board, which will be disbanded, if the resolution is approved.

Should the council approve these resolutions, general public assistance will become the latest of several services either merged with other municipalities or with the county. Another shared service, the joint municipal court, will also be amended by an ordinance up for second reading Monday.

The ordinance completely deletes and repeals two articles of the court and replaces them with new articles, and appoints a municipal prosecutor and public defender.

Another ordinance up for first reading appropriates $1,039,851 for various equipment, including:

• new and replacement equipment and machinery
• new information,technology equipment
• new communication and signal systems equipment
• new additional furnishings
• new automotive vehicles.

The Chatham Borough Council meets Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the . The agenda for the meeting, along with the ordinance regarding the joint municipal court, may be found attached to this article.