ATLANTIC COUNTY REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE

COUNTY EXEC LEVINSON CITES FREEHOLDERS' TAX CUTTING RECORD AND FISCAL RESTRAINT ATLANTIC COUNTY REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE

RELEASE: Immediate, CONTACT: Atlantic County
Oct. 13, 2006 Republican Hdqs.
677-0707

Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson said today that the “fiscal responsibility and restraint which has been the hallmark of the County Board of Freeholders has resulted not only in the lowest property tax rate in the county’s history but has established the county as the fifth lowest in the state in terms of spending.�

“The commitment of freeholders Frank Finnerty, Jim Curcio and Tom Russo to providing quality services at the lowest cost to the taxpayers is the driving force behind the county’s outstanding fiscal position,� Levinson said.

The county property tax rate has been cut by 32 per cent in the last five years, with reductions in the rate being approved each year, Levinson said.

“This record of accomplishment and fiscal responsibility is clear and no amount of election year partisan rhetoric, distortions and half truths can change that,� Levinson said, “particularly when the rhetoric comes from a member of the Hamilton Township Committee who supported local budgets which increased spending an astonishing 141 per cent in the last five years and raised the local property tax rate 82 per cent in the same period. Hamilton, under Democrat control, has become one of the highest spending communities in the county, in stark contrast to the solid record of county government.�

“While the Board of Freeholders has cut the tax rate, at the same time it has met the ongoing commitment to fund the most pressing needs in our transportation modernization and reconstruction program as well as providing upgraded and expanded services to our senior citizens,� Levinson said. “Finnerty, Curcio and Russo have played crucial roles in developing these policies and programs.�

The executive said that the county has received exemplary ratings in audits of its operations over the past several years --- audit reports which complimented the county on its fiscal policies and performance.

Levinson listed the following:

*Atlantic County has one of the lowest rates of indebtedness of any county in the state

*The county’s bond rating is one of the best

*The county has never been forced into emergency allocations of funds to get through a fiscal year

* The county budget approximates the rate of inflation, despite increases in nearly every category of services the county requires

“This record was not achieved by accident,� he said, “it came about as the result of hard work, dedication and a commitment to the well-being of the taxpayer, precisely the qualities Finnerty, Curcio and Russo bring to the Freeholder Board.�