There’s much at stake at the state level for Hillsborough.
With Jon Corzine ensconced in the governor’s office and a new session of the New Jersey Legislature set to open, many of the top issues facing the state will affect Hillsborough.
Top issues including property-tax relief and transportation funding are likely to be not only at the top of state officials’ to-do lists but also topics of discussion in the halls of the municipal building.
Polls show most New Jersey residents are demanding action on property taxes and it’s likely to be seriously addressed in the statehouse.
As a community with a tax structure that’s heavily reliant on homeowners, any action taken will be helpful.
One of the first things officials should do is get caught up on state payments to school districts. Under a shell game launched during the McGreevey administration, local school districts have been getting payments from the state a month behind schedule.
While it may not seem to be a great problem, in Hillsborough the payments are more than $1 million, and to paraphrase the late Sen. Everett Dirksen of Illinois, a few million here and few million there and pretty soon you’re talking about some real money.
The state needs to find a way to return to aid levels of a decade ago to truly help local taxpayers, but we don’t expect to hear that this year or even next year.
We’d expect that any effort to repair the state’s property-tax and budget problems will also involve fixing the misguided attempt at property-tax reduction made in 2004 known as S-1701.
While S-1701 seemed to make a reasonable effort to cap school spending, the caps have been squeezing many districts.
Our schools have been caught in a trap by this law, which came into effect after the Hillsborough district cut $1 million for two years after voters rejected the school budgets.
That put a strain on services, and schools are now facing escalating energy costs as well as the skyrocketing medical costs all employers are facing but have no room to maneuver because of the S-1701 caps.
Transportation issues especially the future of the Route 206 bypass will also be crucial this year.
Gov. Corzine has already muddied his position on possible gasoline tax increases, which will be needed to continue funding many state highway projects including the Route 206 bypass.
The $100 million project is currently budgeted at $26.5 million in 2007, $36 million in 2008 and $38.3 million in 2009, but unless additional funding is found for the over-committed Transportation Trust Fund (which provides the state’s share of federally-financed projects), the whole project could be postponed.
Delayed construction will also translate to delays in the development of Hillsborough’s town center.
But Gov. Corzine’s most recent comments on the trust fund leave the door open to possible increases in the tax.
We’ll have to watch closely to see how the winds blow in Trenton seldom has Hillsborough had so much at stake.