Officials: Municipal aid not enough to ease taxes

By: Cara Latham
   While local municipalities will see a small increase in state aid this year, officials say the additional money will not ease the tax burden as they prepare their new budgets.
   The amount given to each municipality varied this year from town to town, but most did not receive more than $20,000 over last year’s state aid.
   Chesterfield saw the highest increase, jumping $59,478 from $749,542 last year to $809,020 in this year’s state aid figures, which were released last week by the Department of Community Affairs. But Bordentown Township, North Hanover, and New Hanover saw only slightly more than $20,000. Meanwhile, Bordentown City, Springfield, Mansfield and Fieldsboro only received slightly more than $10,000.
   Chesterfield Township officials said they weren’t sure how the extra state aid would affect the budget this year.
   In North Hanover Township, where a $21,323 increase in state aid brought the total state aid to $1,177,238 this year, Committeeman Bill Tilton said any increase in state aid is "always significant," but noted politicians in Trenton still haven’t cut their spending. He said he worries about what taxpayers are giving up in turn for the state aid.
   "We’re still getting an increase in taxes," he said. "They’re spending more than they did last year. It appears to me that the politicians in Trenton — Republicans or Democrats — are not facing the fact that they need to cut spending. Until they reach that determination, we all better hold on and grab whatever seat belts we can because it’s going to be a bumpy ride."
   He said it’s "great" legislators are giving the township more money, but they haven’t set up a five-year plan, or even three-year plan for the future.
   Further, "the schools are getting a little bit more money, and that’s great, too, but what’s on the back side of this? That’s not being told to us," Mr. Tilton said.
   Ten years from now, "I don’t know how any township’s going to be able to deal with these issues because the way that they’re going, nobody’s going to be able to live here," he added.
   "It’s very frustrating as a taxpayer, very frustrating as a politician," he said. "It’s just disappointing."
   Bordentown Township Mayor George Chidley said the $23,220 extra the township received this year — which brings the total state aid to $$1,240,363 — won’t help much at all.
   "It’s not a police car, it’s not a salary, it’s not a penny on the tax rate," he said. "In terms of relief, it’s far from any type of real relief."
   In Fieldsboro, state aid figures only increased by $2,735, from $138,780 to $141,515.
   Mayor Ed "Buddy" Tyler said, "I’d like them to take what they gave Newark, Camden, Trenton and Jersey City and all the other Abbot districts, then let me know what I think about what (Fieldsboro) is getting," he said.
   Mr. Tyler said he is frustrated because statistics from these districts aren’t readily available as public information.
   "I can’t get that information from my legislatures, I’m curious just how much aid they got," he added.
   As for the increase to Fieldsboro, Mr. Tyler said that he’s not impressed by the increase, and that he himself could lend the township $2,735.
   "The peasants are happy to have any crumbs they can get a hold of," he said. Regarding the $2,735 in municipal aid, he said that he’s not exactly happy about the amount, but he’s not about to send any of it back.
   Township Committeeman Peter Sobotka in Springfield, which saw an $11,462 increase to $620,672 in state aid, said that "any money helps," but that approximately $44,000 is needed to have even a 1 cent reduction on the tax rate per $100 of assessed value.
   When asked if the township received more than expected, he said that "with the state, we never know what to expect. We just don’t know what they’re going to come up with."
   He said while the extra $11,000 was helpful, "Was it a significant increase? Not really."
   Bordentown City saw a $10,760 increase to $590,711, and Mansfield saw an increase of $13,657 to $763,935. In New Hanover, state aid increased by $21,015 to $1,109,650, and in Florence, it increased by $35,314 to $1,909,373.
   Mayor Michael Muchowski remarked on his municipality’s aid amount simply that "state aid is state aid."