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MAYORS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM…
This is the statement I made to Governor Corzine at
the Mayors day at the Statehouse on January 17th.
We all work hard to keep our local taxes down.
Mayors try to make every cent and tax dollar count. My
focus to him was all of the hidden mandates from the
State that cause tax increases that we cannot control.
Tax increases caused by individuals who do not have
the statutory authority to raise our residents’ taxes.
I
gave him 3 examples for this year: (1.) Administrator
of the courts wants new security in the municipal
courts. Cost: $20-40k. (2.) AG forces us to use
Alcotest machine for testing drunk drivers. It is not
tested in court. State Police will not be fully
equipped until 2008. Cost: $14k each. (3.) AG forces
recording studios in each police station. Cost: $2-6k.
These 3 items will raise my local tax rate by 3.5
cents….a 7% increase. Isn’t that the average increase
they keep talking about? We as Mayors have not caused
that increase!
I
also commented on the 4% cap as did many other Mayors.
Our increases for health and other insurances, fuel,
and vendor increases are over 3% of our budgets. If we
have a 4% hard cap, what services do we cut? How many
employees do we fire? He spoke of having only the
extraordinary insurance increases out of cap. Last
year, all insurance was out of cap.
For most of us, adding insurance back into the cap
would be fatal. Insurance is between 8-15% of our
in-cap budgets.
We need to deliver this message to our Legislature. We
need Mayors to become more active and testify before
the various committees. Our communities are at stake.
Make yourselves heard in
Trenton!
Fourteen NJCM Mayor Members and I have just returned
from the United States Conference of Mayors Spring
meeting in Washington. A very rewarding experience to
work with and discuss issues with our Nation’s
leaders. We participated in a breakfast roundtable for
our delegation on Capital Hill hosted by Senators
Lautenberg and Menendez.
We were proud to join our NJ delegation in cheering
for our own Doug Palmer as he led our Nation’s Mayors
as President of USCM. What a moment for New Jersey and
for us. Doug was clearly in charge. He dealt with
Presidential candidates and national business leaders
and the rest of us. This is a National leadership
position. Doug will travel around the
US
and other countries representing us. Many people will
be able to experience his stories, wit, and special
personality and of course, his ties.
Doug was scheduled to become President of USCM this
June. He became the 65th President on the
unfortunate passing of Mayor Michael Guido of
Dearborn, Michigan on December 5, 2006. Mayor Guido
was a strong leader of USCM. He has left Doug a good
legacy. Doug will have a long term affect on the
Conference. He will be President for 18 months. We
know he will make a positive difference. He will
continue to make New Jersey proud.
This has been an exciting year. We have become an
active force in the State House. I have worked to
improve our relationship with the Governor, the
Cabinet and the Legislature and most importantly their
staffs. It is critical to our futures that we maintain
these working relationships as an organization. The
ability to have a candid, offline discussion on a bill
or an issue gives us the opportunity to make a
difference before something comes up for a vote. And
boy, do we have a lot of issues that need to be
discussed!
The important thing to know is that they will listen
to us as Mayors. But they won’t listen to us if we
don’t speak up, or if we don’t speak as a group. I
challenge you to speak up. Talk to your legislators on
a regular basis. Make a point to let our legislative
committee know your opinion on current or proposed
legislation.
In a short two months, we will conduct our 44th annual
conference at the Taj in Atlantic City. We will
continue our discussion of the State of the Suburbs
and how we improve them. We will also see if there has
been any meaningful property tax reform in New Jersey
or if there will be any in the future. You need to
join us in Atlantic City. The Mayors of New Jersey
need to join together to help our Legislature and
Governor to act NOW to help New Jersey.
Register now to make sure you don’t miss out.
This will be my last message as your President. It
has been a remarkable year. I have enjoyed working for
all of you. I believe that we have strengthened our
organization this year. We have grown. I have been so
proud to represent the Mayors of our great state. It
has been a very high honor to serve as President of
NJCM. We have an extraordinary group of Mayors in this
state who deeply care about their towns. I salute all
of you for your dedicated service to your residents.
New Jersey Mayors are the
solution to a better
New Jersey. |
