U.F. wants answers before paying for state police
Millstone, Roosevelt taxpayers also affected by new mandate
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer

Local municipalities hit by new fees for New Jersey State Police services aren't just going to roll over and pay them.

In late July, Gov. Jon Corzine's office sent letters to 89 small and/or rural municipalities stating they would have to start paying for the State Police patrols they have had since the police force was chartered in the 1920s.

Along with the taxes residents already pay toward this service, Millstone would be charged an additional $348,152, Upper Freehold would be charged an additional $254,065 and Roosevelt would be charged an additional $33,823 for State Police coverage.

Upper Freehold Mayor Steve Alexander said the governor's office sent the bill on July 28, and the township received it the following day.

"It takes effect July 1," Alexander said. "We got it 30 days late."

He continued, "If we don't come up with a plan by Dec. 15, it will be considered consent to the cost-share agreement with the treasurer's office."

Affected municipalities would not have to pay their bills with this year's budgets, but would have to put the six months of 2008 police service in their 2009 budgets. Alexander said this would result in towns always having to look six months back to pay their bills.

Alexander said he attended several meetings in Trenton where the governor's office always presented the new cost of police coverage as a fee that it would phase in. He said the state claims the police patrols for 89 towns cost $80 million.

The mayor said that the state never provided any data regarding how it came up with the $80 million figure.

"If they don't come up with $80 million, will they lay off state troopers?" he asked.

Alexander said Upper Freehold would not just roll over and pay the new bill, which would result in a 2-cent per $100 of assessed value increase in residents' taxes. He urged every town involved in the issue to question its bill and how the state arrived at the amount due.

The mayor also addressed how some towns are complaining about having to pay for rural patrols that they do not use. He said towns like Upper Freehold do not get enough state aid for their school districts, but pay taxes toward funding Abbott school districts.

Alexander said paying for State Police coverage is cheaper than creating a police department, but that the State Police was created in the 1920s to serve as law enforcement for rural towns.

"I defy anybody to tell me Upper Freehold is not the quintessential rural town," he said.

Deputy Mayor Bob Faber said he wants to know if the state would give municipalities a larger percentage of court fees to pay the new bills.

Upper Freehold had $624,000 in municipal court revenue last year. Of that amount, the township kept $111,000 and the state received $524,000, according to Alexander.

"We only keep 15 percent of violations [money]," Alexander said.

When Committeewoman Lori Horsnall Mount said that the state apparently thought it would send the bill and municipalities would pay it, Alexander said Upper Freehold would not pay the bill until it got some answers.

"I can't imagine the legislature will go into session and vote to remove the State Police, which were created to patrol small towns," he said. "It's not going to happen."

Millstone Township has filed a complaint with the Council on Local Mandates pursuant to NJSA 52:13H-1 regarding the State Police issue.

A resolution that Millstone passed last month noted that the State Appropriations Act, effective July 1, would require municipalities served by the State Police to enter into a cost-sharing agreement that will mandate an "additional direct expenditure" for budget implementation. The resolution states that the new requirement does not authorize a new revenue source beyond increasing local residents' real estate property tax.

The resolution seeks to have the new portion of the State Appropriations Act determined to be an impermissible unfunded state mandate, and therefore of no force or effect.

Mayor Nancy Grbelja said the proposed bill for the State Police would increase the municipal portion of a resident's tax bill by about 50 percent. The 10 cent per $100 of assessed value tax rate for municipal purposes would increase to 15 cents with the new cost.

Roosevelt officials did not respond to questions regarding the issue prior to press time.