FREEHOLDER DIRECTOR
Stephen M. Sweeney began his career in public service as a Gloucester County Freeholder in 1997. In 1998 Steve was selected by his colleagues as the Freeholder Director and he has been reconfirmed as the Board’s Director every year since.
Freeholder Director Sweeney's dedication to the taxpayers, economic development, jobs, regionalized and shared government services, education, and the environment has led Gloucester County to be noticed as one of the most progressive governments in New Jersey.
Due to Steve's vision and perseverance the Port of Paulsboro is currently under construction. This deep water port located on 190 acres along the Delaware River will create thousands of jobs and spur economic growth in Gloucester County and in the South Jersey region. The $250 million regional project will generate $12 million a year in tax revenues.
Under Director Sweeney's leadership Gloucester County is a pioneer in shared and regionalized government services. By continually shrinking the size of government through efficiencies, the Board of Chosen Freeholders has been able to keep its tax rate below 1968 levels for the last ten years.
Gloucester County is the first county in the state to provide regionalized County EMS services for its towns to ensure that when a resident calls 9-1-1, that the call is responded to in a timely fashion. Today, Gloucester County's EMS serves 14 of its 24 municipalities, saving those towns over $2.8 million in avoided costs, and responding to calls with an average response time of 5 minutes and 50 seconds.
Under Director Sweeney's leadership Gloucester County is serving as a Pilot County for New Jersey in providing Regionalized Assessing for its municipalities. It is estimated that the County’s Regionalized Pilot Assessing program will save taxpayers $1.5 million annually by eliminating the need for costly revaluations to be done town by town, and create a fair assessment system that maintains a high equalization ratio, staying as near to “true value” as possible by reassessing every town on a three year schedule.
Gloucester County also has a successful regionalized 911 dispatching center, a regionalized Storm Water Management program, leads a regionalized Medical Examiners Office, and has combined administrations and shared services of its Special Services School District and Institute of Technology. Altogether these programs save taxpayers over $30 million annually.
As Freeholder Director, Steve Sweeney oversees the Gloucester County Department of Administration, which includes the following departments: Administrator; Treasurer; Personnel ; Purchasing ; Clerk of the Board and County Counsel , as well as the Department of Buildings and Grounds . He also serves as Liaison to the Gloucester County Improvement Authority and is a statutory member of the Gloucester County Planning Board. He serves as Chairman of the Board of School Estimates, is a board member of the United Way of Gloucester County, a member of the West Deptford Lions Club, and a Special Olympics of New Jersey Board member.
Steve resides in West Deptford Township with his family. He is the General Organizer for the International Association of Ironworkers. In January 2010, Stephen M. Sweeney was voted as President of the New Jersey Senate and represents the 3rd Legislative District, which includes parts of Gloucester and Cumberland Counties and all of Salem County.
STEPHEN M. SWEENEY |