CENTRAL JERSEY: East Wdndsor, Hightstown join push for full financial aid for towns

By Doug Carman, Staff Writer
   East Windsor and Hightstown’s councils joined about 100 other municipalities in pressuring the state to end its “reliance on the municipal property tax relief revenues to balance its budget and address other priorities,” according to a draft of East Windsor’s resolution.
   Both councils passed resolutions by unanimous votes Tuesday demanding that the state Legislature and Gov. Chris Christie give the municipalities the full financial aid they were legally entitled to through both the energy tax receipts and the consolidated municipal property tax receipts aid, or CMPTRA.
   ”They keep stealing our money and then attack us,” East Windsor Councilman Perry Shapiro said before casting his vote in favor of the resolution. “Live within our means? We could if we had our means.”
   ”We want our fair share. We just want to confirm that,” Hightstown Mayor Steve Kirson said of the resolution at the borough’s meeting Tuesday evening.
   East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov, who also is the second vice president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said 100 municipalities had passed the resolution by Tuesday, not counting Hightstown.
   In question were the energy receipts. Mayor Mironov said that since 2001, East Windsor was entitled to about $6.13 million in energy tax receipts, but only received a total of about $3.52 million. The deficit of $2.61 million includes nearly $900,000 in receipts that were withheld in 2010 alone.
   Historically, municipalities assessed a gross receipts and franchise tax on public utilities and collected the money locally. In about 1980, the state took over the collections with the intention of distributing the money to the municipalities. However, the state diverted some of the money for its own budget.
   East Windsor also passed a resolution, again by an unanimous vote, demanding that the school board and state share in the burden of tax assessment repeals, saying the town funds all of the tax return from that process even though all three collect from the assessment. Hightstown had a similar resolution, but voted to table it for further review.
   ”Seems only fair that everybody pays their fair share,” said East Windsor Councilman Pete Yeager.