Legislation seeks more aid to ease Jamesburg tax rate

By sandi carpello
Staff Writer

Legislation seeks more aid
to ease Jamesburg tax rate
By sandi carpello
Staff Writer

JAMESBURG — Nearly five months after an unexpected loss of $100,000 in state aid spawned an increase in municipal taxes, state Sen. Peter Inverso has announced he will advocate more forcefully for a solution to the borough’s fiscal plight.

Inverso (R-14) introduced legislation recently that he said would award Jamesburg the $100,000 the Borough Council had anticipated in extraordinary aid for 2002, but never received. The council received $250,000 in aid. A year earlier, it was given $350,000.

"The time has come to take an alternative course of action to advocate for Jamesburg’s extraordinary aid application, which would have provided substantial property tax relief to the borough’s residents had it been fully funded," Inverso said.

However, with Inverso crediting two Jamesburg Republicans running for Borough Council as the impetus for the legislation, Mayor Anthony LaMantia, a Democrat, dismissed the news of Inverso’s legislation as political. The mayor said he has met with state officials in an effort to gain more state aid, and has been told that there is no money available.

The municipal tax rate increased by approximately 9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation this year, in part due to the loss of aid. Jamesburg homeowners with property assessed at the borough average of $122,000 are paying approximately $130 more in annual municipal taxes.

Inverso’s deputy chief of staff, Tom Breslin, said the senator plans to pursue the matter with the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) more aggressively, noting that the borough’s loss in state aid has been "an unresolved issue," and the DCA never gave a valid explanation as to why it was reduced, he said.

The DCA increased its extraordinary aid awards program by $5 million this year, while the factors that justified the Jamesburg’s 2001 award have not changed, he said.

Earlier this month, the DCA publicized a new list of extraordinary aid recipients, but Jamesburg was not on the register to receive any of the funds.

"This issue is one of fundamental fairness," Inverso said. "To date, I have not received a satisfactory answer as to why Jamesburg’s funding was reduced. I will not let this issue end."

In a press release, the senator credits Republican Borough Council candidates Adam Bushman and Gregory Newton with convincing him to introduce the legislation to secure the state aid.

With Inverso’s announcement coming out two weeks before the Nov. 5 election, LaMantia suggested that it might have been a political tactic. The mayor said he has been meeting with state officials since July in an effort to repair the borough’s fiscal wounds.

LaMantia, along with state Assemblywoman Linda R. Greenstein and Assemblyman Gary Guear (both D-14), met with members of the DCA last month to discuss the borough’s plight. Although the DCA said it was unable to give the borough any additional extraordinary aid, representatives offered information on state grants the borough may be eligible for.