FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Joseph M. DiBella, Mayor

1-732-938-4500

July 30, 2006

State Budget Gimmicks Hurt Howell Township

Facing a state budget crisis, the leadership in Trenton chose to raise taxes rather than cut spending. However, this year we were told things were different. We were told that a 1% increase in the Sales Tax was needed to balance the budget and that we were on the brink of a fiscal disaster without it. We were told that there were drastic cuts in spending and that absent this tax hike, NJ could not operate. It got so bad that the warring political factions within the ruling party actually shut down the State. Along the way they cost thousands of private sector employees up to a week’s wages. They cost many NJ businesses steep losses in revenue and they made our State a laughing stock across America. Yet, we were told that all this was necessary to raise the Sales Tax and how this time things would be different.

Unfortunately, we the tax payers were once again had and taken advantage of.

In what amounts to a “pork-barrel spending spree”, the ruling party in Trenton demonstrated it remains politics as usual. After raising taxes to record levels to help “balance the budget”, the leadership spent about 30% of the money raised by the new Sales Tax on “pet projects” dominated by partisan politics. All told, after the budget crisis was resolved, a “whopping” $212 million + was added back into the budget to pay for these pork barrel projects. Even more insulting is that 95% of this money was funneled to District’s and municipalities based purely on their political persuasion.

The City of Newark was showered with special grants totaling more than $71 million alone. Jersey City was awarded in excess of $31 million while Camden received $28 million.  Patterson received $14 million and New Brunswick received more than $7 million. To put this in perspective, the entire Howell Township municipal budget is about $45 million to operate an entire township of 52,000 residents. In fact, the amount of special “pork” grants is more than three times what it was just three years ago. Yet, we were told there was a State budget crisis! The fact is the only crisis we have is that the State government is completely out of control and partisan politics is crippling our State like never before. Frankly, I don’t care which party is in power – this kind of tax and spending must stop, and now.

How are we to trust the State’s leaders when they tell us we have a budget emergency all while they are rewarding political cronies with $212 million in gifts that we get stuck paying for? The fact is we can’t trust them – not one bit. In Howell Township our State aid has been dwindling year over year – all while politically connected Districts rake in our money to fund their pet projects. As we grapple with high taxes, the State goes on a spending spree that rivals the budget of a small nation. I don’t know about you, but I have had it.

Here in Howell Township we have cut spending. Last year we were even forced to lay off township employees in an effort to reduce spending. Yet, other government agencies all around us continue to spend OUR money with a total disregard for those that pay the bills. Remember, the State showered Newark NJ with a “special grant” that amounts to nearly two times our entire municipal budget. It’s down right insulting. According to a recent article in a major NJ newspaper, a former NJ resident now living in Colorado pays a merely $3,500 in property taxes for a 35 acre ranch. Due to the litany of problems in NJ, it’s safe to say that that same home in Howell or anywhere else in NJ would pay ten times that amount.

What is the solution? We need the leadership in Trenton to start acting like leaders. The Governor has showed some promising signs buy yet in the end he allowed his political allies to take money from Howell and dole it out to politically important voting Districts.

The answer is we need to demand a complete overhaul of the State government in a thoughtful and meaningful way. This must start with way we fund education which today funnels most of the money to a handful of school systems. The public pension and benefit systems must be overhauled to reflect what most private citizens get. The Mt. Laurel decision must be overturned. Election reform and new ethics rules are desperately needed. Layers of duplicate services must be eliminated. Consolidation at the Municipal, Board of Education and County levels is a must and significant spending limits must be implemented. The problem is we are asking the current leadership that just dished out $212 million in political pork spending to fix the system. This is just wrong.

Electing new public servants is a start and when the legislature is up for election next year I would hope that New Jersey residents will make their voices heard loud and clear. Until then, I suggest a relentless email, phone and letter campaign to the leadership in Trenton. Call the Senate President. Call the Speaker of the Assembly. Call the Governor. Let them know we have had enough and that we demand that NJ take this unique opportunity to reinvent government so that we go from being the laughingstock of the nation to a State that is accountable and reformed. Please don’t stand by on the sidelines for this debate – there is too much at stake.

If I can be of any assistance to you on this or any issue, please contact me by phone or at MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us.

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