Democrats approve budget shifting costs to taxpayers

"Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent or undeclared voter, this budget is ultimately a shift in burden to suburban municipalities and property taxpayers who live in those communities," --Assemblyman Scott Rumana

In a party-line vote in the General Assembly this week, Democrats approved a $32.9 billion spending plan for Fiscal Year 2009 that cuts aid to municipalities, scales back property tax relief and slashes funding for hospitals while failing to attack over a billion dollars in wasteful and unnecessary spending identified by Republicans.

Republicans who unanimously opposed the budget noted the reductions in state aid to suburban and rural communities are almost certain to drive up property taxes in those towns at the same time the budget will reduce or eliminate property tax rebates for families with household incomes in excess of $100,000.

While funding for suburban and rural communities is being cut and hospital aid is being slashed, cities such as Camden and Newark, where there has been ample evidence of waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement of tax dollars, are seeing significant increases in aid.

The budget also extended a utility tax that had been set to expire this year at a time when New Jersey families are already struggling to pay for increasing energy costs.

Hours before the budget vote, Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce announced there would be no Republican votes for the measure, which he described as a "missed opportunity" that will cost taxpayers dearly.

"Republicans will not support a budget that will hurt taxpayers at a time when they are struggling to hold onto their jobs, pay their bills, and try to remain calm every time they pull into a gas station," DeCroce said.

Assembly Republican Budget Officer Joseph Malone said that the budget missed a chance to implement real fiscal reform.

"If this budget had been crafted with the right priorities we could have reduced the size of the budget and still been able to provide property tax relief and funding for programs that benefit our state’s most vulnerable citizens," Malone said.

Republicans in the Senate and General Assembly had unveiled an alternative plan to reprioritize $1.32 billion in unnecessary spending from the governor’s budget proposal and to use those changes in priorities to restore property tax relief, municipal aid to suburban and rural communities, hospital funding, college tuition aid for students and to finance the state’s transportation needs without gas tax or toll hikes.

Democrats rejected those spending cuts, most of which were targeted at programs where waste or abuse had been identified, the services offered were duplicative, or the programs had originally been intended only to provide short-term funding relief but had become examples of annual pork barrel funding for the politically connected.

"With gas prices at $4 a gallon and quickly rising along with utility and food bills, New Jersey families will awaken tomorrow morning to the stark reality that their property tax bills will again sharply increase because, under the guise of spending cuts, Governor Corzine and the majority party, shifted the cost of state government onto the backs of local governments and property taxpayers," Assemblyman Michael Doherty said of his decision to oppose the budget.

Assemblyman Scott Rumana said the budget will put a heavy burden on suburban property taxpayers while aid to the state’s urban areas, where waste and abuse has been well documented, has been largely unaffected by the budget cuts.

"Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent or undeclared voter, this budget is ultimately a shift in burden to suburban municipalities and property taxpayers who live in those communities," Rumana said.

Rumana noted that the cuts in municipal formula aid contrasts with the ballooning "distressed cities" aid to several urban municipalities. The Special Municipal Aid Act program provides financial assistance to a number of urban municipalities. Under the proposed budget for FY 2009, there is an appropriation of $145 million for those cities.

Governor Jon Corzine’s claim that his new budget reduces government spending is an "artfully crafted lie," according to Assemblyman Richard A. Merkt. Ostensibly, the Fiscal Year 2009 state budget spends about $32.9 billion, down from the $33.5 billion approved for the current fiscal year. But Corzine’s FY 2009 budget hides more than a billion dollars in government spending off-budget, says Merkt, distorting the budget’s bottom line and misleading the public regarding the state of New Jersey’s finances.

Despite the approval of this budget, Republicans say they will continue to fight for long-term budgetary reforms that will help hold state costs in check going forward and that they will push for a full restoration of property tax relief in next year’s budget.