Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean and Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce sent a letter to Governor Corzine asking him to launch an investigation into what appears to be another politically manipulated grant program, the Extraordinary Aid Program. The Extraordinary Aid Program is administered by the Department of Community Affairs.
The letter follows:
November 17, 2008
The Honorable Jon Corzine
Governor, State of New Jersey
P.O. Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625-0001
Dear Governor Corzine:
We are writing to ask that you postpone and personally review imminent aid awards from the Department of Community Affairs’ Extraordinary Aid Program to municipalities on fiscal year budgets. Scarce resources are not being awarded in a reasonable and thoughtful manner that achieves a legitimate policy objective. Your intervention is sorely needed.
The Extraordinary Aid Program allows municipalities to apply for aid to avoid property tax increases caused by extraordinary circumstances beyond their control. Grants are awarded first to applicants from among towns operating on a calendar year, and second to applicants from among towns operating on a fiscal year.
A review of grant applications and awards from previous years and more recent grant applications and awards in July for calendar year towns, shows:
Select towns received funds to address common budget pressures faced by other towns, despite the program’s parameters requiring needs to be extraordinary.
Select towns received funding even though their budget pressures were of their own making.
Select towns received aid that amounted to less than $1 per person, even though had the aid been reallocated elsewhere, it may have had a significant impact for residents.
Many towns received aid every year, despite program requirements that aid is temporary and promises by recipients that steps will be taken to avoid future need.
We strongly believe that if you addressed the problems above, government would be more accountable and scarce resources would be better used to make New Jersey affordable.
Sincerely,
Thomas Kean
Senate Republican Leader
Alex DeCroce
Assembly Republican Leader
Link to Post:
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