February 27, 2014 Christie Administration Preserves Municipal State Aid
Christie Administration Preserves Municipal State Aid
Fiscal Year 2015 Municipal State Aid To Help Local Governments Control Property Taxes
Trenton, NJ – Following the Christie Administration’s Fiscal Year 2015 Budget proposal, which preserves municipal aid at last year’s level, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) today released municipal state aid figures for the coming fiscal year.
Governor Christie’s property tax reforms and stable aid funding are helping control the cost of local government, as well as helping to control property taxes for residents across New Jersey. For Fiscal Year 2015, $1.5 billion will be available to municipalities through various programs and direct aid payments.
The Fiscal Year 2015 Budget continues Governor Christie’s commitment to encouraging local governments to consolidate or enter into shared service agreements. The budget includes $8.5 million for Consolidation Implementation Aid to reimburse local governments that have consolidated or entered into shared services agreements.
Recognizing Superstorm Sandy’s impact on municipalities, a new category of Transitional Aid will be available to towns that do not have a history of mismanagement, but face financial hardship through the destruction or loss of significant local tax ratables.
In addition, the Christie Administration’s pension and health benefit reforms and aggressive management of the pension funds will save local governments close to $122 billion over the course of the next 30 years. To that point, the Governor announced that local government pension bills for 2014 are expected to be lowered by an additional $135 million, bringing down the cost of government to provide much needed relief to property taxpayers. Reductions will be announced in the near future as actuaries finish their analysis.
“Governor Christie’s efforts over the last four years are beginning to yield benefits for New Jersey taxpayers,” said New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Richard E. Constable, III, whose Department administers municipal state aid. “We know that the bipartisan 2 percent property tax cap, interest arbitration reform, and pension and health benefit reforms combined with significant dollars for municipal aid provide local governments with the tools to make property tax relief a priority.”
A full list of municipal state aid figures for Fiscal Year 2015 is available on the DCA’s website at www.state.nj.us/dca/divisions/dlgs/resources/muni_st_docs/2014_data/csa_xls_2014.xls.
Lisa Ryan
Sean Conner
(609) 292-6055
