BRISTOL TOWNSHIP

Office of the Township Manager____________________________________

2501 Bath Road · Bristol, PA 19007 · (215) 785-0500 · Fax (215) 785-2131

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Bristol Township Council authorizes the release of the following statement in order to keep township residents fully informed:

Township Manager Bill McCauley announced today that the Township will be recalling two police officers from layoff on July 1, 2013. “I am very pleased to announce that we are able to recall two police officers six months earlier than I had anticipated due to the Township’s strong financial performance in 2012”, he said.

McCauley emphasized that the protection of persons and property is the Township’s top priority and the Township has every intention of rebuilding the police force, despite the fact that previous administrations made it necessary for the Township to shrink the size of its organization. “As I told the Council in February of 2012, we could not afford our workforce and were looking at bankruptcy without drastic action,” he said. McCauley explained that the Township had to take its very bitter medicine and saluted the Council for their courage and determination. The reason so many local governments never get out of financial quagmires is because there is no leadership or political will to do so according to McCauley. “This Township Council did not shirk from the tough decisions and now we can see some light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

The old-time Bristol Township politicians gave away the store in contract negotiations. “The average police officer makes $95K, has lifetime health insurance with a $1 prescription card, can retire at 50 years of age with a very lucrative pension and a deferred compensation plan,” he pointed out. “The average Bristol Township taxpayer is struggling to make ends meet and pay what are the highest real estate taxes of any Township in Bucks County,” said McCauley. The Manager pointed out that the wealthiest Bucks County Townships did not afford these generous benefits to their police officers.

Council President Bob Lewis praised the police officers for stepping up and working harder after the reductions to the workforce. “I need to make it clear that the Council has no problem with our police officers—they have responded to the challenge of having fewer officers by working harder,” he said. Public safety is the most important service the Township delivers as evidenced by the fact that non-uniformed employees have been laid off to pay the wages and benefits of police officers. “We love our police; this is simply an ability to pay issue,” Lewis went on, “We will be very happy to have them back.”

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Contact: Bill McCauley, Township Manager(267) 812-2888