THE BOROUGHS OF EAST RUTHERFORD AND CARLSTADT 973-403-7836             Joe Crifasi 201 693-3627 

Property Taxes, Affordable Housing Exemption for Meadowlands are Issues that Trenton Needs to Address 

MEADOWLANDS - A report in Sunday’s Star Ledger in which key state legislators said they see few pressing issues facing the New Jersey  just demonstrates how out of touch Trenton lawmakers are with the rest of the state, say officials from Carlstadt and East Rutherford

The officials say the legislature is out of touch on issues such as property taxes, and new affordable housing laws, which have been opposed by most communities.  

East Rutherford Mayor James Cassella said property taxes are again the top issue in the state and the legislature is failing to acknowledge the problem. “If the assemblymen and senators think they have solved the property tax  problems with their  gimmicks, then they truly have no idea of the tax burden faced by homeowners in this state,” said Cassella.  

“They should try running a town on the mandates they send from Trenton and the cutbacks in state municipal aid this year,” added Cassella. East Rutherford has lost about $200,000 in state aid and the figure could go higher depending on the status of certain categories of aid that have not yet been determined. 

“The state hasn’t given us tax relief.  The legislators cut municipal aid that has to be made up by local taxpayers,” said East Rutherford councilman Joel Brizzi.  

Carlstadt Councilman Joseph Crifasi whose community is losing more than $132,000 in state aid, said Trenton officials need to get back to work cutting state spending, reducing state mandates on municipalities and addressing the affordable housing mandates.  

“The state legislature is killing us,” said Crifasi. “They pile on mandates and then cut aid to small towns such as ours. How can they go back in session this week and fail to recognize the problems of this state. It’s astounding how out of touch Trenton is with the rest of the state.”    

Overall 35 small Bergen County towns lost more than $4 million in state aid, noted Brizzi, saying “the state legislature has declared war on small towns in New Jersey.” 

“The state is pumping more money into Newark and Paterson and leaving the small towns to fend for themselves,” said Brizzi. “The public is fed up with the inequality in taxation.”     

HOUSING MANDATES

Crifasi and Brizzi said the affordable housing mandates handed down from the courts and the Council on Affordable Housing that hit their communities must be addressed by the legislature. 

“The legislature is burying its head in the sand on affordable housing,” said Crifasi. “It’s a major problem that neither party wants to face up to, but it’s their job to resolve this problem now.”

Brizzi said he will introduce a resolution today to have the council demand the state legislature tackle the state’s new affordable housing laws.

“The legislature has failed to do its job on affordable housing. The new COAH edicts are ruining this state and yet the legislature does nothing. They should all be fired,” said Brizzi.

Mayor Cassella said he was particularly incensed by Sen. Codey’s remarks that the COAH Round 3 rules "will for the most part stay intact."  “What Sen. Codey seems to be  saying is that he is afraid to stand up to the special interests that are pushing the overbuilding, low income housing agenda,” said Cassella. 

“There is no courage in Trenton to face up to the special interests. I think there is more courage in the average kindergarten class than there is in Trenton.” 

The local officials want to remind Codey of his promise during the summer to address the affordable housing mandates that will be foisted on meadowlands communities because of the state’s massive mega mall project known as Xanadu. 

“We have assurances from state legislators that they will exempt us from low income housing mandates caused by the construction of Xanadu and the new Giants Stadium. I want to know from Sen. Codey if he is going to bring that exemption legislation to the table in this  legislative session? asked Crifasi.

Unless addressed by the legislature, the meadowlands towns could be forced to host thousands of new housing units to meet COAH rules.

 “The next time Sen. Codey goes to a Giants home game, he should stop by and tell us where all this housing is going to be built,” said Brizzi.   

 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

N.J. state legislators' 12-week hiatus ends Monday

by Robert Schwaneberg/The Star-Ledger

Sunday September 14, 2008, 1:41 PM

Since New Jersey lawmakers were last seen in Trenton, Olympians flocked to China, hurricanes slammed the South and the faithful from both political parties pumped up presidential candidates in Denver and St. Paul. The summer silence at the Statehouse ends Monday when the Legislature returns from a 12-week break. Leaders hope to spend the rest of the year fine-tuning a new housing law, tightening ethical standards and passing long-delayed reforms of the government's power to seize property through eminent domain. Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) said lawmakers also will hold hearings aimed at combating underage binge drinking "so we can save lives on our college campuses" and cracking down on diploma mills. But in the shadow of a presidential election, this fall's legislative session promises less drama than in previous years. Last year, lawmakers repealed the death penalty. In 2006 they tackled property tax reform and legalized the "civil unions" of same-sex couples. "All the oxygen's being taken by the presidential and the senatorial and congressional elections," said Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester). "I don't think we're going to be all that busy," predicted Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Morris). And Codey concedes "there's no universal, overriding issue that everybody's engaged in." It was not supposed to be that way. When lawmakers adjourned in June, many expected to return this fall prepared to do battle over a revised version of Gov. Jon Corzine's unpopular plan to pay down state debt and fund transportation improvements through massive toll hikes. But the new plan -- which relies on smaller toll hikes but does not pay down debt or solve long-term transportation needs -- can be implemented without legislative approval. The toll hikes for the turnpike and Garden State Parkway, proposed last week by the Turnpike Authority, could take effect after it holds three public hearings unless Corzine vetoes them. "Not only is it an end run around the Legislature, it's an end run around the people," DeCroce said. Both he and Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union) vowed to push for legislative input on the toll hikes and more public hearings. With one former state senator (Sharpe James) scheduled to report to federal prison tomorrow as the federal corruption trial of another (Wayne Bryant) begins, ethics reform is a priority. "We will again fight for real ethics reform," Kean vowed, adding Senate Republicans would deliver 17 of the 21 votes needed to pass it in the upper house. Codey also plans to take up ethics reform, but his time frame is "before we get out for the summer" and into the "silly season" of the 2009 Assembly elections. "We have a lot of time to do it, and do it hopefully the right way," Codey said. Leaders of both parties said the Legislature will likely fine-tune a new affordable housing law and new rules by the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) on each town's responsibility. Kean said the new rules "are completely unworkable. They are stopping growth throughout the state." Codey, acknowledging the unpopularity of the new rules, said, "I don't think a legislator can run into a local official without being body-slammed about COAH." But he said the housing bill passed in June "will for the most part stay intact." The Assembly resumes work tomorrow with committee hearings on bills to combat errors in writing and filling drug prescriptions and to set licensing standards for nutritionists. The Assembly Higher Education Committee will take testimony on how the credit crunch is affecting student loans. The Senate Economic Growth Committee will explore the feasibility of offshore wind farms at a hearing in Brick Township. Other Senate committees are scheduled to resume work on Oct. 2. By then, Sweeney hopes to have agreement on a bill to reform eminent domain. A similar effort died in the lame-duck session last year.