Haines: I Applaud Speaker Roberts for Seeing the Light

April 3, 2008

Contact: John Gorman / 609-292-5199
Senator Philip E. Haines (R-8)

Municipal Aid Should be Based on Efficiency Not Size

Senator Phil Haines (R-8) applauded Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts for finally realizing and publicly stating that municipal aid should be based on how well a town handles taxpayers’ money, not its size. Senator Haines has been a vocal opponent of Governor Corzine’s plan to slash funding for towns with fewer than 10,000 residents.

“I, along with my Republican colleagues, vocally opposed these draconian cuts as soon as they were announced, ” stated Haines. “I am pleased Speaker Roberts has also come to realize how unfair these cuts really are.”

Under Governor Corzine’s FY 2009 budget proposal, state aid to towns with populations under 10,000 will be slashed or eliminated in a stated effort to encourage municipal consolidation and shared service agreements.

“We can not punish some towns who are operating with the utmost frugality, while others are consistently wasting taxpayer dollars, ” continued Haines. “Rather than cutting aid to towns, based purely on population, we should first look at communities that have been receiving large aid increases for years with little or nothing to show for it.”

In testimony to the Senate Budget committee the League of Municipalities stated that 80% of towns in New Jersey already share services with their neighbors when the possibility for savings exists.

“We should be rewarding towns for implementing cost saving measures and cooperative agreements, and saving taxpayers’ money, ” concluded Haines. “Not punishing them, as Governor Corzine is, with his arbitrary cuts and short term objectives.”

Link to Post:

http://www.senatenj.com/index.php/haines/haines-i-applaud-speaker-roberts-for-seeing-the-light/366