FREEHOLDER GANZ FLUBS TAX QUESTION IN DEBATE TODAY

BERGEN COUNTY REPUBLICANS

Robert Yudin, Chairman

973-403-7836

GANZ DOESN’T  KNOW HOW COUNTY’S  OPEN SPACE TAX MONEY IS BEING SPENT   

 HACKENSACK --   Freeholder David Ganz is spending so much taxpayer money so fast that he doesn’t even know  where its going, says Republican Freeholder candidate Chris Calabrese who debated Ganz today in Westwood   

During the debate Calabrese chided the all-Democratic freeholder board for dramatically increasing the county open space tax and spending the money on projects that have nothing to do with open space.  Among the projects cited by Calabrese is an artificial turf field in Wood Ridge that county taxpayers contributed $188,000 toward.

 “Open space tax money should be used to preserve open space, not to put toxic plastic grass on  playing fields in Wood  Ridge,” said Calabrese.

 Ganz shot back saying that the county did not allocate money for the artificial surface playing field. But records show that he is wrong. 

In 2006 the county gave Wood Ridge a $53,000 open space grant for the high school field; followed by a $75,000 grant in 2007 and a  $60,000 grant in  2008. Ganz voted in favor of the open space spending  resolutions each of those years and so did his running mate Freeholder Bernadette McPherson 

The Record newspaper reported on June 19 that Wood-Ridge, home to mayor and influential Democrat state Sen. Paul Sarlo – received $188,000 for the borough’s project.

  “David Ganz doesn’t even know what he is voting for,” said Calabrese. “Maybe he should read the spending resolutions more thoroughly before he votes on them especially since he is the liaison to the county open space board. He’s in too much of hurry to spend taxpayer money  to realize what he’s spending it on. "

GANZ THE TAX RAISER 

Calabrese also denounced Ganz for trying to quadruple the open space tax, which currently takes in about $20 million on top of regular county taxes paid by homeowners.  

Ganz successfully pushed to double the open space tax in 2003 and then took away the voters’ rights to re-approve the tax five years later. As the open space levy was originally designed by the county’s previous Republican administration, voters would have to reauthorize the tax every  five years as open space dwindled. 

Last year Ganz backed a plan to double the tax again, but voters turned down a ballot referendum to increase the tax  At the time Ganz said: “I’m proud of that additional little line on my tax bill that goes to preserve open space (Record August 9, 2007)      

“Mr. Ganz may be proud to be paying the open space tax, but I assure you that if the taxpayers of Bergen County knew that their open space  tax money is going to pay for artificial turf fields, bleachers and lights on municipal tennis courts, they would not be so proud to pay the tax. 

“The residents of Mr. Ganz’s home town of Fair Lawn are paying more than $500,000 a year in taxes to  support the county open space fund and I doubt they are as proud to  be paying for Wood-Ridge’s artificial turf field as Mr. Ganz is,” added Calabrese 

Calabrese and his running mates Paul Duggan and Jeff Heller say they want the open space trust fund suspended until it can be thorough  investigated for abuse.  They also want the reauthorization of the tax put on the ballot so voters can decide if they want to continue paying the tax and the amount they want to pay. 

“This would be the year that voters should have been allowed to approve the continuation of the tax,” said Heller, a former Ramsey Councilman. But the Democrats took that option away from taxpayers. We would give it back to them and let them decide.  

Duggan said if the majority of the fund is not being used for open space, then the people are being taxed under false pretenses. “Homeowners think they are being tax for open space. But that’s largely untrue. We need truthful taxation in Bergen County.”     

 Votecalabrese.com