Hillsdale – Responding to Governor Jon Corzine and the Democrat state legislature’s proposed FY2010 budget plan to eliminate the property tax rebate and the property tax deduction on middle class families, Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk and candidate for Assembly Bob Schroeder released the following statement:  “I will proudly vote for Bergen County taxpayers by opposing Jon Corzine’s reckless budget. The Governor’s budget wastes our tax dollars to pay for political patronage and special interest contracts.  Middle-class taxpayers are at the breaking point and this budget could well put them over the edge,” said Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk.  Bob Schroeder, a Councilman in Washington Township and Hillsdale businessman added, “This is the eighth year in a row in which the budget contains new taxes, fiscally unsound debt practices and one-shot budget maneuvers. Jon Corzine is using Bergen County taxpayers as his personal piggy bank to pay for bureaucrats’ spending projects and political patronage. If I ran my business the way Jon Corzine runs New Jersey, we would go bankrupt every year.”  Governor Corzine and the Democratic-controlled legislature have proposed eliminating the property tax deduction on families who earn $150,000 or more, eliminating the property tax homestead rebate for nearly all homeowners, and settled on a sweetheart deal which prevents any layoffs of taxpayer-funded state employees – a group whose representative unions have provided unwavering support for the Governor and are expected to again in this year’s campaign.    “The Governor’s budget plan would be especially devastating to the taxpayers of the 39th Legislative District.  Rather than face the real issues, Governor Corzine has decided to borrow, tax, and spend his way through the 2010 fiscal year for his own political benefit and without any long term budget solutions,” stated Vandervalk.  “The Governor refuses to admit what all taxpayers know: that New Jersey has fundamental budget problems that will not be fixed by gimmicks and political grandstanding,” said Bob Schroeder.  “It is time we put New Jersey on a path toward fiscal sanity. Together, Assemblywoman Vandervalk and I will work with members of both political parties to bring fiscal responsibility back to New Jersey and finally deliver relief to taxpayers.”  ###