12-3-07 (A-98-06)
N.J.S.A. 40A:10-23 grants municipalities discretion to assume
the cost of retiree’s health benefits so long as the retiree has
accrued twenty-five years of any combination of government
service credit. Only when the municipality chooses to require a
particular period of service within its borders will a
resolution or ordinance be required. Accordingly, the
arbitrator’s award did not violate any law and was subject only
to the “reasonably debatable” standard. Measured against that
standard, the award was properly confirmed.
