Brick Recycling Center Closure Leads to Budget Cut Revelation

The Brick Township Public Works and recycling facility at Ridge Road, Spring 2024. (Photo: Shorebeat)

The decision to shut down Brick’s recycling center on most Saturdays led to a revelation that all of the township’s department heads were instructed to slash their spending by 10 percent for the remainder of 2026, sparking instant political backlash against Mayor Lisa Crate.

Brick’s recycling center on Ridge Road has, for decades, been something of an unique point of pride for the community. Residents are allowed to drop of brush, grass clippings, bulk items, and other household debris – from furniture, to electronics, to materials left over from DIY projects. Saturday has always been the busiest day for the dropoff point on top of “the hill” at the complex, with pickup trucks and tow carts filled with items often lined up outside the entrance. Last Saturday, however, residents were met with a locked gate and a sign announcing the dropoff point would be closed on Saturdays for the remainder of 2026, save one weekend per month.

The announcement led to outrage on social media, with residents questioning why the township had apparently run out of funds to operate the recycling center and – if it must be closed one day per week – why the most convenient dropoff day for most residents was the one chosen. Crate’s explanation at a township council meeting this Tuesday led to only more controversy, when it was revealed that the administration asked all departments – including Public Works – to cut their spending by 10 percent for the remainder of the year due to spiraling costs. Republicans – who hold a three-seat minority position on the township council – instantly cried foul, claiming they were refused any positions on the council’s finance committee and had questioned testimony at budget presentations earlier this year that painted a picture of surpluses at the various township departments.

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“It ended up as a social media explosion,” resident Charlie Bacon said at the meeting, questioning the move to shut down Saturday service at the recycling center.

“What is the reason?” asked resident Mike Kleissler. “If it’s fiscal, let us the taxpayers know what it costs to operate daily. Keep it open on Saturdays because many people don’t have the time throughout the week to get there without burning hours or losing pay. People need Saturday.”

Other residents reiterated calls for the township to disclose the exact cost of operating the dropoff point on Saturdays, though officials never provided that specific figure. Instead, Crate delivered a lengthy explanation that revealed the departmental cuts that led to the scaled-back hours. She said the cuts were not a “rash decision” and came after a series of meetings with department heads.

Brick Mayor Lisa Crate introduces the 2023 operating budget, March 28, 2023. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

“When we looked at our budget, we see the continued exponential rise of gas, of electric, of everyday needs that will have to be met within the township, including the cost of mailing, the cost of copying services, the cost of getting paper.” she said. “All of these things have gone up, and having spoken with residents, it’s not just here in the township, you know, your whole daily life has changed. People are taking less vacations. People don’t drive as far. We’re taking into account all of the costs that we’re going to be seeing in the next six months – and even those that we may not see.”

In April, the township adopted the 2026 budget in a 4-3 party-line vote, with Democrats supporting Crate’s spending plan and Republicans opposing it. The $126,243,931 budget was 2.8 percent higher than the previous year and included a municipal property tax increase of 3.2 cents per $100 of assessed real estate valuation, which works out to about $98 annually for the owner of an average-priced home. The budget was adopted after numerous hearings that included presentations by department heads, many of whom noted under-budget spending and surpluses in recent years. That led Republicans to question why a tax increase was required, and the veracity of the claims, ultimately resulting in their decision to vote against its adoption.

Crate, this week, said over the last month she and the township’s business administrator instructed each department head to cut at least one major item from their capital improvement budgets, and cut their operational spending by 10 percent.

“Public works, obviously, was one of them,” said Crate. “The ask was 10 percent, from now to the end of the year.”

The decision to shut down the recycling center on Saturdays was the suggestion of the Public Works department, Crate said, because it represented “looking at safety first” since the department also handles major services such as trash and recycling collections and mechanical work on the township’s entire vehicle fleet, including police cars and ambulances.

The Brick Township Public Works and recycling facility at Ridge Road, Oct. 2025. (Photo: Shorebeat)

“Looking at that part of the budget was really not an option for them, because we need to make sure that our vehicles are safe for everyone – not just people driving them, but for everyone that surrounds us on the roadway,” she explained. “So, after reviewing all of their options, the reason that the recycling center was settled on was because there are other options for our residents.”

Crate said Ocean County’s recycling center in Lakewood is open and “accepts more items than we do,” and is three minutes closer in distance for people in the southern portion of the township than traveling to Ridge Road, located in the northwest corner of town in the Herbertsville section.

Crate also said the township is looking into enforcing a number of additional regulations on the usage of the recycling center in the future, including a little-known portion of the township code that limits each household to 12 dropoffs at the recycling center per year. It is also expected that the township will more vigorously enforce residency requirements in the future. Further, she said, the recycling center dropoffs can become costly since nearly all of the materials besides brush and leaves must be transported to the county landfill which charges the township a per-ton tipping fee.

“It wasn’t a rash decision,” she said. “There was a lot of conversation that went around, what would be best for the township, what would be best for everyone.”

The explanation drew some groans from the audience assembled in the room, but elicited a strong response by Republican Councilman Gregory Cohen, who singled out Crate and Democratic Councilman Derrick Ambrosino – a primary proponent of the budget that was passed in April – for ignoring “warning signs flashing like a fire alarm” when the spending plan was presented.

“Derrick defended it, he sold it, and he attacked Councilwoman Reina, Councilman Albanese and myself when we dared question it,” he said, declaring, “The time for polite politics and tap-dancing is over.”

“Brick is in a financial mess, and it didn’t fall out of the sky,” he said. “It was created right here by the people who insisted loudly that this was a good budget.”

Crate pushed back on some rumors that swirled on social media involving layoffs or the planning of a referendum next year which would ask residents to allow the township to raise taxes or spending above the state’s 2 percent cap. She denied either action was under consideration.

For the residents who spoke, the restoration of the recycling service was their top issue in the short term.

Brick Public Works Facility, Ridge Road, Brick, N.J.

“Show some love and some respect for the people who work hard to pay the taxes,” said Kleissler. “Know your audience – we’re hard working people and we don’t want to lose services. If you have to shut it, show us the numbers about what it costs to have it open on a Saturday.”

Cohen lamented the fact that no Republicans were allowed to sit on the township’s finance committee, and felt they were shut down when they questioned the soundness of the budget.

“We were the ones who asked the tough questions and voted no, not to be political, but because the math didn’t add up, and warning signs were flashing like a fire alarm,” he said. “I asked a simple question: ‘Why were department heads asking for more money when they came in under budget last year?’ Not one Democrat could answer it.”

Crate, for her part, said residents will be able to access the Ridge Road recycling center one Saturday each month – the first Saturday of the month – for the remainder of 2026, after which the schedule will be “revisited.” She also said residents can arrange for curbside bulk pickups from Public Works at their homes once per month, and visit the county facility. She reiterated that no layoffs were being planned.

“We are not planning on laying anyone off,” she said. “That is not part of our plan. Our plan is to work with our employees to make sure that we can still continue to provide services for the public while employing every single person that is here.”