Green Brook, New Jersey police officer John Skikus had accrued 25 years of service but lacked the required 20 years of creditable service as of June 28, 2011, to qualify for free retiree healthcare benefits under N.J.S.A. 52:14-17.28d (Chapter 78). The Township of Green Brook initially paid Skikus’s healthcare premiums but later demanded reimbursement, citing Chapter 78. Skikus argued that the Township was estopped from requiring him to contribute to his healthcare costs because he had relied on the Township’s promise to provide free benefits when he decided to retire.
After arbitration, the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division held that the Township was not estopped from requiring Skikus to contribute to his healthcare costs because he did not meet the statutory requirement of 20 years of service as of June 28, 2011.
The Court emphasized that Chapter 78 created a “hard line” regarding eligibility for free healthcare benefits and that Skikus did not meet the statutory criteria. “The Arbitrator did not have any legal authority to apply equitable estoppel principles to permit the Township to continue to provide free health care benefits based on eligibility to an individual who did not have 20 years of services as of June 28, 2011.”
The Court also rejected Skikus’s argument that the Township’s initial payment of his healthcare premiums created a binding obligation – the Township’s mistake in paying the premiums did not override the statutory requirements of Chapter 78. “A governmental entity cannot be estopped from refusing to take an action that it was never authorized to take under the law – even if it had mistakenly agreed to that action.” The Court vacated the arbitration award, ruling that Skikus was not entitled to free healthcare benefits under Chapter 78.
Township of Green Brook v. PBA Loc. 398, 2025 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 268 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div 2025).