By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
ROCKY HILL — Little Rocky Hill has scored a big win against the state.
Provisions of the state budget that would have required the borough and other municipalities to enter into “cost sharing” agreements to pay for their State Police protection were nullified Wednesday by the state’s Council on Local Mandates.
”The principal came out and told the bully to give us back our lunch money,” Mayor Ed Zimmerman joked.
Rocky Hill, with fewer than 700 residents, faced making payments of $30,000 annually to pay for State Police coverage. This fee would be in addition to $100,000 the borough already pays each year for police protection, the mayor said.
”It really was an unfair small-town tax,” he said.
The borough, along with several other small municipalities, filed a complaint with the council this summer seeking to have the payment ruled an unfunded mandate, which violates the state constitution. In other words, the state was attempting to use the budget to circumvent a law already in place, the mayor said.
Of New Jersey’s 566 municipalities, a total of 89 receive State Police protection because they are too small to afford their own force. The council came back with its decision in about 20 minutes, Mayor Zimmerman said, a surprise to both parties.
The ruling is a victory for small municipalities, he said, which have been under pressure recently by Gov. Jon S. Corzine to consolidate.
”It’s not so much about the State Police and the $30,000 as it is about the constant barrage against small towns by this administration,” he said.

