Corzine to mayors: Tax relief hangs on toll plan

By JONATHAN TAMARI
Gannett State Bureau

TRENTON
Gov. Jon S. Corzine warned mayors Wednesday that property tax relief could be cut in the new state budget unless he can reduce state debt, providing local officials an ominous picture of what could happen if his toll road plan is not approved.

"If we don't solve these problems, property tax relief . . . will not be able to be accomplished, so I hope that people understand that these things are connected," Corzine said in a morning presentation pitching his proposal to sharply raise tolls in order to halve state debt and fund decades of transportation projects.

Corzine told about 150 mayors visiting the State House Wednesday he hopes to preserve direct property tax rebates. But municipal aid, which helps mayors hold down property taxes by paying for local programs, could be cut without the expected savings from the proposal, Corzine said.

But after presenting that prospect, Corzine also dangled the potential positives of his plan, countering criticism from an Ocean County mayor by saying his proposal could help pay for projects such as widening the Garden State Parkway, including a stretch in Ocean.

In doing so Corzine continued an emerging pattern as he has tried to win support for his proposal: balancing talk of toll increases and budget cuts with the promise of transportation projects should his proposal prevail.

"There are costs and benefits, pros and and cons to this plan, and we ought to talk about both of them," Corzine said Wednesday.

On Saturday, a day after state figures showed that Middlesex County residents would be among those hardest hit by toll hikes, Corzine said a planned New Jersey Turnpike widening would help those same drivers. Shortly before a "town hall" meeting Monday in Bergen County, Corzine promoted a plan to unclog busy Route 17, if he has a way to pay for it.

Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, is among those who could see a benefit from Corzine's plan, since it would pay off the Garden State Preservation Trust debt, allowing for more open space purchases. But he has concerns about Corzine's tactics.

"Our concern is not the plan itself, but what kind of favors have to be granted in order to get the Legislature to pass it," Tittel said.

He worried that more road widenings mean more pollution.

Corzine's plan calls for raising the average toll about 800 percent by 2022 in order to at least halve the state's bond debt and pay for 75 years of transportation projects. Inflationary increases would follow every four years.

A nonprofit "public benefit corporation" set up to stand independent of the state would pay up to $38 billion to take control of the roads, borrowing that sum up front and paying it back with toll revenues. The state would use the cash infusion to cut debt and fund transportation projects. Some future toll revenue would also help pay for road and bridge work.

Corzine said the plan is needed to address a "financial emergency" that has left the state with billions of dollars of debt and unfunded pension and health care obligations.

"No one wants to pay tolls," said Corzine, adding that the increase is more palatable than alternatives such as steep gas or income tax hikes.

Reach Jonathan Tamari at jtamari@gannett.com
Published: January 17. 2008

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