BODY POLITIC

NEW CHAPTER ON (MUNICIPAL) FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Over the past few days, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has gone back to his Wall Street roots. Like a new company looking to go public, the Governor has been taking his budget show on the road to gauge the interest of his constituents. During his stops at local colleges, the Governor is revealing the new realities of the financial pain that New Jersey residents may be absorbing this year.

One of the programs that the Governor proposes to cut is local aid to municipalities. In years past, municipalities can apply for discretionary aid from the state in hopes of reducing the local tax rate. In Atlantic Highlands, our success over the past decade has been mixed when we have applied for aid. Some years our town was shut out of the process, while others we were able to secure $200,000 to alleviate the taxpayer’s burden.

Granted, $200,000 is not a huge amount but the few pennies on our tax rate were better than nothing. Recently, Atlantic Highlands has not planned to receive any aid and our budgets were prepared accordingly. However, there are many towns around the state that count on significant aid when formulating their budget. It is these towns that could be in for a rude awakening if the Governor follows through on his pledge.

A few of these towns are in Monmouth County and it could get ugly. Some of those municipalities are going to have to find savings of over $500,000 which is not an easy task. Residents will hear about reductions in service or layoffs in safety areas which is never a popular choice. Readers will hear from local officials begging the state for help and that will be the moment of truth for new Governor.

Will his administration be able to stand up and say that help is not on the way? If the new administration sticks to its guns, it won’t be popular with some of the politicians that helped elect the Governor. Those towns are going to have make financial decisions that probably should have been made long ago, and that could signal a new chapter in fiscal responsibility for municipalities.