By Katie Wagner, Staff Writer
ROCKY HILL — Stung by the prospect of sharp cuts in state aid to municipalities with populations under 10,000, Mayor Ed Zimmerman has begun working with New Jersey League of Municipalities and New Jersey Conference of Mayors officials to establish a committee to lobby the state on behalf of such communities.
Mayor Zimmerman, whose borough has less than 700 residents, said he contacted the league immediately following Gov. Jon Corzine’s Feb. 26 announcement that his proposed 2009 fiscal year state budget would include cuts targeting New Jersey’s smallest municipalities.
”Since the league has legal advisors, I told their executive director Bill Dressel that we needed their help,” he said.
So far Mayor Zimmerman said he’s received support from Mr. Dressel and Timothy McDonough, first vice president of the league and mayor of Hope Township in Warren County.
During the state Department of Community Affairs March 6 meeting on Consolidated Municipal Property Tax Relief Assistance (CMPTRA) cuts for the approximately 300 municipalities with populations under 10,000, Mayor Zimmerman said he met several other municipal officials that shared his desire to make the needs of small municipalities heard, including officials from the New Jersey Conference of Mayors.
Although, during the meeting, Mayor Zimmerman learned that the state would not be cutting all state funding to Rocky Hill as he had heard when the budget was first announced, the meeting didn’t put an end to all his concerns regarding future taxes and services for Rocky Hill residents. He said he learned that the borough would be receiving $42,648 less in state aid than last year, with the majority of this cut coming from the CMPTRA category of municipal aid, which has been completely eliminated to Rocky Hill. For a municipality that spent a little under a million dollars last year, the loss of $42,648 is significant, Mayor Zimmerman said.
”I know from this meeting that other mayors are upset and I know they want to stop the arbitrary cut in aid to small municipalities,” he said. “What the meeting showed us is that there is unity among these small communities.
”It was clear that the governor’s folks don’t understand the issues of the smaller municipalities,” he added. “There’s no question that there were issues raised that showed that just because we’re small we’re not all the same.”
The consolidation of municipalities, which Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Joe Doria said during a phone interview is one of the state’s priorities, is another area of concern for small rural communities.
The decrease in aid to small municipalities has heightened fears of losing home rule for Rocky Hill and towns of its size, Mayor Zimmerman said. He added that during the DCA meeting “bigger isn’t always better” was emphasized by representatives of several municipalities.
During a phone interview, Mr. Doria said the state is not striving to bring about a specific number of municipalities or certain size municipalities, but definitely would like to see towns with less than about 20 people merging with larger ones.
”We’re looking at trying to make governments more efficient and cost effective,” Mr. Doria said. “Since the ‘80s, governors have been talking about consolidation and sharing of services, something everyone agrees is important both for Republicans and Democrats, at different times.”
