Tag: Transportation Slush Fund

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Opponents call N.J. 23-cent gas tax hike deal ‘insane’ and ‘appalling’

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By Samantha Marcus | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on October 04, 2016 at 5:16 PM, updated October 04, 2016 at 7:52 PM

TRENTON — With the state Legislature poised to approve a 23-cent-a-gallon increase in the gas tax Wednesday — along with a decrease in the sales tax and the elimination of the estate tax — budget analysts and consumer advocates complained bitterly on Tuesday that the average New Jerseyan would pay a lot more at the pump while getting little in the way of tax breaks.

Various efforts by the governor and legislative leaders to replenish the Transportation Trust Fund have repeatedly brought these groups together to warn that the tax cuts will benefit a relatively few wealthy residents while undermining such Democratic priorities as environmental oversight, funds for education and aid for the state’s poorer residents.

The latest tax plan, the result of negotiations between Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, and Democratic leaders in the Senate and Assembly, eliminates the estate tax, raises the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor, eliminates taxes on much pension and retirement income, slightly reduces the sales tax and creates a tax break for veterans.

The 23-cent-per-gallon increase on gasoline sold in the state will finance an eight-year, $16 billion transportation program that will draw another $16 billion in federal matching dollars.

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/10/opponents_call_23-cent_gas_tax_deal_insane_appalli.html?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics#incart_river_home

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Governor Christie Issues Executive Order Due to Senate’s Continued Inaction on Transportation Trust Fund

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August 18,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie announced his enactment of Executive Order 213, with the State Transportation Trust Fund Authority days away from exhausting all of its available funds.

“No evident progress has been made by the Legislature to pass a single, viable bill to reauthorize the TTFA,” Governor Christie stated. “A well-maintained transportation infrastructure is essential to the operation of New Jersey’s economy and the people who rely upon it in all aspects of their daily lives. The current situation will persist until the Senate and the General Assembly pass an acceptable TTFA funding bill. Until they do so, the State must use money from the General Fund for emergency road, bridge, and mass transportation work.”

Under Executive Order 213, attached, the state Treasurer is directed to make available general funds for expenses determined to be absolutely essential for the protection of the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the State of New Jersey, or that are required to ensure the receipt of federal funding, in accordance with Executive Order 210, until the Governor determines an emergency no longer exists.

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Freeze on transportation projects likely to stretch into fall, Sweeney says

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A statewide freeze on transportation projects is likely to stretch into the fall and past the November elections, dealing a blow to a state packed with commuters, Senate President Stephen Sweeney said Tuesday. Salvador Rizzo, The Record Read more

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Former DOT Commissioner Fox Confirms New Jersey’s Spending $2 Million Per Mile on Roads

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Letter from Former DOT Commissioner Fox Confirms New Jersey’s Spending $2 Million Per Mile on Roads

JUL 29, 2016 BY AFP

Americans for Prosperity: Letter from Former DOT Commissioner Fox Confirms New Jersey’s Spending $2 Million Per Mile on Roads

Pro-taxpayer Group Calls Letter a “Smoking Gun”

Trenton, N.J. – A letter from former DOT Commissioner Jamie Fox to legislators, obtained by Americans for Prosperity through an open public records request, confirms that the state is spending upwards of $2 million per mile on building, maintaining and operating its roadway system.

In the correspondence, delivered to Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-26) and Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-13) on March 20, 2015, Commissioner Fox acknowledged “…the cost per center line mile is $925,704 per mile.” Adding in New Jersey’s debt service, the state’s per mile road costs approximate the $2 million figure in Reason Foundation’s Highway Report.

“Commissioner Fox’s letter is a smoking gun which puts to rest any notion that New Jersey does not have an enormous, out-of-control transportation spending problem,” said AFP spokesman Mike Proto.“Lawmakers supporting this 23 cent per gallon gas tax hike, and debt-fueled $2 billion a year TTF spending plan, owe taxpayers answers and solutions, not more excuses. AFP once again calls on lawmakers to come together to address our transportation spending problem by making the structural reforms needed to ensure our transportation dollars are being spent prudently and efficiently.”

Link: AFP Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Testimony