COUNTY
OF MIDDLESEX, NEW JERSEY
GENERAL AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Introduction
The County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey (“County”) was one of the first four counties into which the Province of East Jersey was divided by an Act of the Assembly in 1682. Located in central northeastern New Jersey astride the major transportation corridor, the County is accessible to New York City and Philadelphia.
Governmental Structure
A seven (7) member Board of Chosen Freeholders (“Board of Chosen Freeholders” or “Board”), elected for staggered terms of three (3) years, governs the County. The Board of Chosen Freeholders operates under the commission form on a committee system. Professional department heads in County government are appointed by the Board of Chosen Freeholders and are responsible to the chairman and the committee charged with the specific operation. The County follows the Civil Service merit system of employment and the Board of Chosen Freeholders abides by the regulations of the State Merit System Board.
The County also established an Office of Central Administration under the direction of a County Administrator. The County Administrator, who reports directly to the Board of Chosen Freeholders on matters of policy, is responsible for overseeing and carrying out the daily administrative functions of the County and has jurisdiction over County departments and officers, including management information, insurance, personnel, purchasing, storage, mail and reprographics, except for those duties imposed pursuant to State of New Jersey (“State”) statutes and/or regulations.
Governmental Services
Health and Hospitals. Middlesex County provides certain medical, health and extended care services to residents through the Raritan Bay Mental Health Center, several public health clinics and the extended care facility at Roosevelt Care Center. Roosevelt Care Center, having originally been designed as a tuberculosis sanitarium with an emphasis on isolation, has been impossible to operate with an efficient staff-to-resident ratio. This inefficiency has lead to large discrepancies between the cost to operate the facility and the revenues received from third party payers, particularly Medicaid, for the care of residents. Faced with an operating deficit of over $10 million, on June 14, 1997, the Board of Chosen Freeholders transferred the operation of and license to operate Roosevelt Care Center to the Middlesex County Improvement Authority (MCIA). On May 6, 1999, the Board followed-up by authorizing the transfer of ownership of Roosevelt Care Center from the County to the MCIA. The transfer was completed on November 15, 1999, with agreements and contracts for the transfer of the lands and buildings executed on January 19, 2000.
Because there was no way to reconfigure the original building to make it more efficient, the MCIA continued to grapple with large operating deficits. To deal with this problem, in 2001, the Board authorized construction of a new state-of-the-art 180-bed extended long term care facility at the Roosevelt campus on the site of the former Roosevelt Care Center annex. In 2001, a $19 million Bond ordinance was approved to pay for the construction of this new facility which opened and was turned over to the MCIA in early 2005. It presently operates with 180 residents in very efficient 60-bed units.
As some residents are still housed in the original building, Roosevelt Care Center continues to face operating inefficiencies. As a result, County subsidies to operate the facility remained excessive. To eliminate
this remaining problem, during 2007, the Board of Chosen Freeholders authorized the construction of a second new 180-bed extended care facility on Marlboro Road in Old Bridge Township. Funding for this project was and will be authorized by the Board in October 2007 and May 2008, as applicable. As soon as the new Old Bridge facility is operational, all of the remaining residents in the original building will be relocated to the new facility. Once this has been accomplished, all of the County’s extended care residents will be housed in efficient 60 bed units.
It is expected that both of the new 180-bed facilities will be able to operate with staffing costs that are much lower than those required by the original building. While the County subsidy of the two new facilities may not be entirely eliminated, it is anticipated that the extent of the subsidy (presently $8.2 million) will be no more than a total of $3-4 million for both new facilities once the second 180-bed facility is operational.
The construction of these new facilities and the operating efficiencies presently being implemented by the MCIA are intended to bring the Roosevelt Care Center costs under control while continuing to offer the highest level of care to County residents in need of extended nursing care.
Education. The Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School System is acclaimed as one of the finest in the nation. The system provides pre-employment training in approximately 50 vocational and technical skilled areas to high school and adult students. Approximately 9,350 full and part-time students are served annually. The system, serving industry and labor, contributes greatly to the industrial growth and stability of the County. The mission statement of the County Vocational and Technical Schools is: “To prepare students for employment in the competitive labor force and for life-long learning by providing a program that stresses the work ethic; technology; industry driven occupational skills competency; broadly transferable academic thinking, problem solving and communication skills; diversity and equity behavior; and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.”
Middlesex County College, established by the Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1964, has an enrollment of more than 12,000 students. The college prepares students for transfer to some of the nation’s most prestigious universities. It also offers programs in which graduates are qualified to go directly into a career. The institution has a tremendous positive effect on the local economy. Rutgers, the State University, including Douglass College, Cook College, Livingston College and Rutgers College are located within the County, as are the University of Medicine and Dentistry, Princeton University – Forrestal Campus and DeVry University College of Technology.
Parks and Recreation. Eighteen County parks totaling 6,670 acres provide recreational and cultural activities for the general public throughout the year. Extensive facilities for summer sports, winter sports, theater and concert programs offer opportunities for enjoyment to County residents. In addition, three (3) golf facilities are operated and leased or owned by the Middlesex County Improvement Authority (MCIA): Tamarack Golf Course (36 holes); The Meadows at Middlesex (18 holes); and Raritan Landing Golf Course (9 hole executive course). The County has been investing in parks and recreation to add to its long-term livability and its socioeconomic stability. The Open Space Recreation and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund was established by the voters at one (1) cent per one hundred dollars of equalized valuation in 1996, and expanded by an additional two (2) cents to a total of three (3) cents per one hundred dollars of equalized valuation in 2002. Through this fund, the County has acquired over 6,000 acres of open space either directly by the County or in partnership with its municipalities. This Trust Fund has also been used to develop County and municipal recreational facilities through a grant program focusing on development and redevelopment of municipal parks. The County is currently pursuing an active program of facility improvements in existing parks and has most recently focused on the development of new parks and public access to the Raritan Bay waterfront. As part of this program, the Old Bridge Waterfront Park was completed making accessible an additional 3.5 miles of shorelines
and providing new recreational facilities. New Brunswick Landing, a day docking facility on the Raritan River in the City of New Brunswick, is scheduled for opening in 2009. The County has undertaken major renovations of Donaldson Park in the Borough of Highland Park and Johnson Park in Piscataway Township and plans are underway for an active 25 acre park on the border of North Brunswick Township and the Borough of Milltown. The County also has an active farmland preservation program. The purchase of development easements through March 31, 2008 has brought the County’s preserved farmland to a total of almost 4,867 acres.
Transportation – Middlesex County is one of the most heavily traveled regions in New Jersey. Located at the crossroads of the Northeast Corridor, the County is traversed by the NJ Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, Interstate 287 and U.S. Routes 1, 9 and 130. There also are major State routes, including Routes 18, 27, 28, 34 and 35. The Northeast Corridor rail line provides both Amtrak and N.J. Transit commuter rail service (five stops within the County), and there also is regular NJ Transit service on both the North Jersey Coast line and the Raritan Valley line. Commuter bus service is available along Routes 1, 9, 18, 27, 130, the Garden State Parkway and some secondary roads, and includes regular service to New York. Local bus service to various parts of the county is also available. Funding for this extensive transportation system comes from federal, State, County, local and private sources. The New Brunswick-Piscataway corridor also is served by the Rutgers University inter-campus bus system, which carries over six million passengers per year.
Funding sources include Federal Highway Administration funding for eligible roads and bridges, and State aid funds, through the New Jersey Department of Transportation, for State, County and eligible municipal roads. Funding is also available through local capital improvement programs for County and municipal roads. The Federal Transit Administration and New Jersey Transit provide funding for public transit systems. Funding by private industry for transportation improvements is also possible when private development impacts on transportation facilities. The County has also founded a transportation management association, Keep Middlesex Moving, Inc., which works to reduce demand on existing roads through various management strategies, such as car and van pooling, ride-matching and staggered hours, compressed work schedules and telecommuting. Pedestrian and bicycle mobility service transportation and recreation needs are available in certain areas and are being expanded through State, County and municipal initiatives. The County’s Department of Transportation operates an area wide transit service for citizens. The County Department of Transportation also coordinates transit services between municipalities and major job and activity centers.
Economy
The County has been a leader in new construction for many years. This growth has been a contributing factor in more than tripling the County’s tax base between 1980 and 2000. According to the November 2007 issue of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ Construction Reporter shows that the County, with $1,047,491,982 in the total Dollar Amount of Construction Authorized by Building Permits, was third of the 21 counties in the State overall, seventh in Residential Construction Authorized by Building Permits with $376,104,795 and first in the Nonresidential Construction Authorized by Building Permits with $671,387,187. The same report shows the County first in Office Square Feet Authorized by Building Permits (1,282,472 sq. ft.), sixth in Residential Construction Authorized by Building Permits (1,316 units) and fourth in Retail Square Feet Authorized by Building Permits (263,247 sq. ft.). For the 16-year period, from 1985 to 2000, County averaged 3,149 residential building permits per year. In addition, the Sitar-Rutgers Regional Report lists existing rental office space at 29,018,426 square feet in the County as of December 31, 2007. Sales & Marketing Management Magazine (2006) lists the County’s 2004 median effective buying income per household at $52,611. The State’s median household effective buying income was $48,302 in 2004. The median household effective buying income for the United States was $38,201 for 2004.
Pension Information
Those County employees who are eligible for pension coverage are enrolled in the State of New Jersey pension system. The two State-administered pension funds are the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (N.J.S.A. §43:16A-1 et. seq.) and the Public Employees’ Retirement System (N.J.S.A.§43:15A-7 et. seq.). Benefits, contributions, means of funding and the manner of administration are determined by State Legislation. The Division of Pensions within the Treasury Department of the State of New Jersey is the administrator of the funds.
This Division annually charges counties and other government units for their respective contributions. State law requires that these systems be subject to actuarial valuation every year and actuarial investigation every three (3) years.
Employees
The County provides services through approximately 2,100 employees. County employees are represented by twenty-five (25) labor organizations recognized by the County under the Public Employees Relations Act of 1968 (P.E.R.C.). All labor unions, have current contracts through December 31, 2008. The County considers relations with its unions to be good.
MIDDLESEX COUNTY
SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
As at December 31, 2007
- January 3 -
The County closed on its $20,500,000 General Obligation Bond sale that permanently financed capital improvements and equipment in and for the County and improvements and equipment for the County Vocational – Technical schools and County College. The General Obligation Bonds are dated January 3, 2008 and consist of $18,000,000 General Improvement Bonds and $2,500,000 Qualified 501(c)(3) General Improvement Bonds.
- April 17 -
The County’s 2008 budget was adopted.
- May 1 -
The Board of Chosen Freeholders finally adopted bond ordinance 372 providing for various capital improvements, by and in the county of Middlesex, State of New Jersey; amending Bond Ordinance Numbers 249, 253, 276, 279, 302, 307, 313, 318, 324, 332, 338, 339, 343, 353, 357, 362 and 367 each respectively heretofore finally adopted by the Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County, to reappropriate appropriations, authorizations and down payments set forth in each of said bond ordinances to improvements set forth in this bond ordinance; appropriating $27,531,681 (including a reappropriation of appropriations in the amount of $1,641,835) therefor and authorizing $26,220,630 bonds or notes (including a reappropriation of authorizations of bonds or notes in the amount of $1,563,643) of the County to finance part of the costs thereof.
The Board of Chosen Freeholders finally adopted Bond Ordinance 344(d) amending and supplementing bond ordnance number 344 heretofore finally adopted by the Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Middlesex on April 3, 2003 entitled “Bond ordinance providing for the renovation of the original portion of the Roosevelt Care Center, a lawful public purpose, in and by the County of Middlesex appropriating $1,757,987 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $1,674,273 bonds or notes to finance part of the cost thereof”, as amended and supplemented, to increase the appropriation therein by $26,707,000, and increase the authorization therein by $25,435,238.
The Board of Chosen Freeholders finally adopted bond ordinance 373 providing for the acquisition of capital equipment and the undertaking of various 2008 capital improvements at and for facilities of the Middlesex County College; appropriating $2,000,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $2,000,000 bonds or notes of the County for financing such appropriation.
The Board of Chosen Freeholders finally adopted bond ordinance 374 providing for 2008 general capital improvements and the acquisition of equipment for the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High Schools, appropriating $2,690,000 therefor and authorizing the issuance of $2,690,000 bonds or notes of the County for financing such appropriation.
- May 15 -
The Board of Chosen Freeholders adopted a resolution providing for the combination of certain issues of General Improvements Bonds, Series 2008B of the County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, into a single issue of bonds aggregating $16,000,000 in principal amount.
The Board of Chosen Freeholders adopted a resolution determining the form and other details of the offering of $20,690,000 General Obligation Bonds of the County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, consisting of $16,000,000 General Improvement Bonds, Series 2008B, $2,690,000 County Vocational Technical Schools Bonds, Series 2008A and $2,000,000 County College Bonds, Series 2008A, and providing for the sale of such bonds and determining certain matters with respect to the sale and issuance of not to exceed $34,849,000 bond anticipation notes.
| Information
Charts/Statements |
 |
