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SAMPLE LETTERS TO THE GOVERNOR & STATE
LEGISLATORS
OPPOSING STATE POLICE FEES FOR RURAL
COMMUNITIES
and REDUCING STATE AID TO MUNICIPALITIES
ATTENTION TOWNSHIP RESIDENTS!!!
Governor Corzine’s proposal to charge rural communities for NJ State
Police coverage is estimated to cost each household approximately $325 each year in
additional property taxes! Senior citizens on fixed incomes and working
families will especially be harshly impacted by this proposal. Citizens
should not have to leave our state because high property taxes make owning a home
in NJ unaffordable. Help us to defeat this unfair
proposal which contradicts the Governor’s own position on property tax
reform by contacting our legislators as soon as possible and express your strong
opposition.
The Governor’s
Budget proposal has also reduced or eliminated State Aid to
municipalities as a method to solve part of the State’s Budget
problems. Out of New Jersey’s 566 municipalities, the Governor has
targeted 323 municipalities with less than 10,000 constituents, to lose
all or half of their State Municipal Property Tax Relief.
With
aid eliminated or reduced to rural municipalities, local property taxes
will be increased on the “hard pressed taxpayer”.
Hopefully, if enough taxpayers contact their legislators expressing
their strong opposition, we might be able to make a difference and stop
these local property tax increases from occurring!
Note: You
may copy and paste the text below into your letter
SAMPLE 1:
Dear
Governor Corzine:
I am writing you to express my strong opposition to your plans to
charge rural communities for State Police coverage and reducing or
eliminating State Aid to Municipalities. These proposals
completely contradict your position in favor of property tax reform.
Your proposal is estimated to increase my municipal property taxes more than $300 and have
a disproportionate impact on hard working families and senior citizens
that are currently having a difficult time making ends meet. A
State budget reduction is not property tax relief when the very
appropriations that are cut are those intended to offset property taxes.
Many citizens are leaving our state as a result of the high property
taxes that make owning a home in New Jersey unaffordable. Please
consider increasing the surcharges on
fines resulting from the issuance of tickets by the State Police
to raise new revenue to support State Police services in lieu
of your plans reliance upon increasing local property taxes.
The State
deficit needs to be resolved through cutting
State expenditures or increasing surcharges on fines instead of relying
on regressive property taxes that impact those taxpayers that can least
afford it.
(Your
Name and Address)
SAMPLE 2:
New Jersey
Third District Legislators
Dear Senator
Steve Sweeney and Assemblymen John Burzichelli and Douglas Fisher
I am writing you to express my strong opposition to
the Governor's plans to
charge rural communities for State Police coverage and to reduce or
eliminate State Aid to Municipalities. These proposals
completely contradict the Governor's position in favor of property tax reform.
The Governors proposal is estimated to increase my municipal property taxes more than $300 and have
a disproportionate impact on hard working families and senior citizens
that are currently having a difficult time making ends meet. A
State budget reduction is not property tax relief when the very
appropriations that are cut are those intended to offset property taxes.
Many citizens are leaving our state as a result of the high property
taxes that make owning a home in New Jersey unaffordable. Please
consider increasing the surcharges on
fines resulting from the issuance of tickets by the State Police
to raise new revenue to support State Police services in lieu
of the Governors plan to require rural municipalities to increase local
property taxes to pay for this service.
The State
deficit needs to be resolved through cutting
State expenditures or increasing surcharges on fines instead of relying
on regressive property taxes that impact those taxpayers that can least
afford it.
(Your
Name and Address)
SAMPLE 3: - Opposing State Police Fees
Governor
Jon Corzine
New Jersey
Third District Legislators
Senator
Steve Sweeney and Assemblymen John Burzichelli and Douglas Fisher
Dear
Governor Jon Corzine, Senator Steve Sweeney and Assemblymen Douglas
Fisher and John Burzichelli:
I am
writing to you to express my strong opposition to the New Jersey budget
proposal that would impose fees on my rural community and rural
communities around the state for State Police patrols. I am opposed for
the following reasons:
-
The New Jersey State
Police was formed for the express purpose of providing police
services for the rural, more sparsely populated areas of the State
and this service, which is of critical importance for public safety
and homeland security, should not be threatened or turned into a
political issue.
-
The budget proposal would
improperly shift the tax burden to local tax payers without any
corresponding increase in services and would do harm to local
communities and to public safety and security throughout the State.
-
The estimated fees
would cause a dramatic increase in local taxes for all effected
municipalities, costing the rural towns in Cumberland County more
than $4,000,000 in the first year alone.
-
The State Plan and other
policies, encourage rural areas to preserve open spaces and to
remain as rural as possible. These municipalities are being
restricted from expanding real estate tax ratables, the main tax
revenue source for municipalities in New Jersey. This proposal to
unfairly charge these municipalities for state police protection
penalizes these communities for remaining rural in nature and
serving as the open spaces for the rest of the State of New Jersey.
-
Traffic violations and
summonses and other court-related revenue generated through the
rural municipal courts, produces millions of dollars in revenue for
the state.
-
All state residents and
travelers benefit from the State Police services without paying a
user fee. Towns with state highways running through them benefit
from State Police patrols. All towns benefit from the State Police
Lab, from the Marine Unit and so many services provided by the State
Police.
-
The rural communities
have been asked over the years to support special funding and tax
incentives for Urban Enterprise Zones, Abbott School Districts and
Federal Empowerment Zones, special aid to distressed cities and
other programs such as New Jersey Transit services, though they
receive little or no benefit from these programs.
-
The State’s more rural
area receive less state dollars than more populated areas and are
much less of a burden on State resources.
-
Our State’s over-reliance
on regressive property taxes to fund essential programs and services
and the continued reliance on finding new revenue sources rather
than seeking to cut waste and increase efficiency in State
government, leads to unfair proposals like this, which will only
cause a greater reliance on local property taxes.
Consider
increasing the surcharges on fines
resulting from the issuance of tickets by the State Police
to raise new revenue to support State Police services in lieu
of the Governors plan to require rural municipalities to increase local
property taxes to pay for this service.
Please
remove this unfair proposal for charging municipalities for State Police
services from the proposed State Budget.
Respectfully yours,
___________________________________
Mailing Addresses:
NJ Third
District Legislators
Senator
Steve Sweeney and Assemblymen John Burzichelli and Douglas Fisher
Kingsway
Commons, Suite 400
935 Kings
Highway
Thorofare,
NJ 08086
Phone:
856-251-9801
Fax:
856-251-9752
Email:
sensweeney@njleg.org
asmfisher@njleg.org
asmburzichelli@njleg.org
Governor
Jon Corzine
PO Box 001
Trenton, NJ
08625
Phone:
609-292-6000
Fax:
609-292-3454
Email:
www.state.nj.us (use email link there)
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