Dear NJ Assembly and Senate:
I recently received a property tax hike for my home in NJ. Taking the economy we live in today, plus the fact that my wife and I live on a fixed income, I was immediately concerned over the fact that with our even higher taxes now, road repair in NJ has come to a halt.
And I know all about Gov. Christie’s order to stop all construction, but I would like you to tell me why, after seriously thinking about the Dept. of Transportation’s Trust Fund situation:
1). The fund had a balance of $158 million as of July 8, but $109 million of that is dedicated to pay bills for work completed through the first week of July, before the shutdown took effect. Another $20 million is reserved for emergency work by the Transportation Department and NJ Transit during the shutdown.
2) The $29 million that remains is enough to fund construction projects only until early to mid-August.
3) Why are the funding sources that are covering day-to-day operating needs being commingled with ‘construction’monies?
4) For decades, the agency has paid for its day-to-day operations partly by dipping into funds originally intended for construction projects. Such transfers have totaled $5.1 billion since 2001, according to the agency.
5) What happened to NJ Transit’s plan to transfer $401 million this year from its capital budget to pay for operations, according to its proposed 2017 budget?
6) Why are the NJ taxpayers being ripped off by legislators and Trenton officials who misuse our tax dollars?
7) Please explain to me why it costs over $2 million per mile to repair roads in NJ when according to the Reason Foundation, “New Jersey spends just over $2 million per state-controlled mile on construction, maintenance and administration, triple the roughly $675,000 spent by the next-highest state, Massachusetts, and more than eight times the national average is between $39,000 and $68,000.”
I call it “out of control” spending. Why does New Jersey spend eight times the national average on its state-controlled highways? That’s a heavy toll that is driving the tax-supported fixed income households to “Empty.” Why the exorbitant price of road repair in NJ?
Specifically local: construction on the train overpass on 69th St. between Tonnelle and West Side avenues has been shut down for about a year. When I called about eight months ago, I was told it had to do with trouble the contractor had with subcontracting. Now we have another stoppage from Trenton to cover the county stoppage – when and where do the layers of corruption stop and begin to work for the NJ taxpayer?!
This is outrageous. NJ Taxpayers are being ripped off by the Left and the Right – and it doesn’t get better. Our taxes just keep going up & up & our roads get worse & worse!!!
A copy of this letter is being sent to state and local newspapers
JOHN AMATO