The FUNNIEST thought is Bret Schundler running the schools. He'll close all the public schools and open up a big CHARTER school in each county for the rich kids.

And each will have a life sized statue of Jesus on top.

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When all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail

If you don't like this year's bad budget news, just wait until next year.

NJ's State Budget deficit is projected to rise from $2.2 Billion in 2010 to a staggering $11 Billion in 2011.

State aid to NJ school systems already eats up more than one-third of the State budget and NJ spends more per student than every other state, but for NY -- and still with mediocre results.

Something will change and it's going to be radical... but the end game is clear.

The future means having to do more, do better and with less.

Gosh,

If they cut too much from school aid, the graduates of public schools won't be as smart as they are now. Same for the dropouts.

And if they cut out half the cops, the other half may have to actually do some work.

And half the lbrarians may mean more books becasue all Jersey City liberarians do is throw out books.

And the parks may not be the wondrous places they are now if several park superintendants are fired...ROFL.

And the thought of only 4 people filling a pothole instead of 9 is too awful to contemplate.

The end of civilization as we know it.

Christie: High police salaries 'can't be sacrosanct' in budget-cutting process

Friday, March 19, 2010
Last updated: Friday March 19, 2010, 6:41 PM

BY JOHN REITMEYER
State House Bureau

Governor Christie said Friday that towns could reduce the high police salaries that help make property taxes so expensive in New Jersey by using the spending cap he proposed with the new state budget this week.

Police officers and their salaries "can't be sacrosanct in this process," Christie said while discussing the budget with The Record's editorial board.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/03091 ... dget-cutting_process.html

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formula aid

other aid

extraordinary aid

what next.. band-aid

Jersey City who receives the highest state funding in the county will also lose the most ? $23 million. That amounts to 4.9 percent less than last year.

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Hudson County schools losing $59.8M in state aid

By Melissa Hayes/The Jersey Journal
March 17, 2010, 6:32PM

State Commissioner of Education Bret Schundler, of Jersey City, announced anticipated district-by-district state aid cuts today.

Hudson County schools can expect to share $59.8 million less in state school formula aid in the coming fiscal year.
State Commissioner of Education Bret Schundler, a former Jersey City mayor, announced the cuts today. Although the state is spending more on school aid, coupled with a $1.05 billion cut in federal funds, districts will see an average decrease of 7.4 percent.

The Legislature must approve the governor's budgetwhich includes school aid figures.

Overall, Hudson County schools will receive 6.2 percent less than last year. The county faired better than others, like Bergen County, which is set to lose 41 percent.

Jersey City who receives the highest state funding in the county will also lose the most ? $23 million. That amounts to 4.9 percent less than last year.

?It could have been worse,? Jersey City Board of Education member Gerald McCann said.

While the loss is large, the district will still receive almost $449 million in state formula aid.

Other districts were not so lucky. Secaucus, will lose 100 percent of its formula aid, or $1.6 million.

There are 59 districts that will receive a 100 percent reduction in formula aid, Schundler said, adding that the wealthiest districts were hit the hardest.

?Some districts will say, ?Well now we?re not getting any money back from Trenton for all the money we send there,?? he said. ?Even those districts that lost formula aid still are getting ample amounts of money from the state.?

For the first time the state released information on ?other aid,? which includes pension, social security, extraordinary aid and debt service the state pays on behalf of the districts.

On top of that Schundler said the state also expects to pay $823 million in benefits to retired school employees in the coming fiscal year, up $48 million from the current year.
While districts have the ability to increase taxes above the 4 percent levy cap to account for state aid cuts, Schundler said he would work with county executive superintendents to prevent that.

?Property tax payers themselves have had a great burden they have been shouldering,? he said. ?We really would discourage districts proposing a levy increase of more than 4 percent.?

He added, ?They can propose it and we also have the power to line-item veto spending we don?t think is necessary.?

Here's the proposed state aid figures for Hudson County public school districts for the fiscal year that starts July 1:

School district/ 2010-2011 Formula Total Aid/ Total cut/ Percent change

Bayonne/ $49,684,191/$5,698,193/-10.3 percent
East Newark/$3,135,091/$231,175/-6.9 percent
Guttenberg/$4,254,232/$695,959/-14 percent
Harrison/$23,201,911/$1,803,531/-7.2 percent
Hoboken/$14,059,047/$2,297,132/-14 percent
Hudson County Vocational/$19,017,835/$2,298,768/-10.8 percent
Jersey City/$448,968,926/$23,325,401/-4.9 percent
Kearny/$27,115,517/$4,024,740/-12.9 percent
North Bergen/$54,624,690/$4,448,642/-7.5 percent
Secaucus/$0/$1,648,138/-100 percent
Union City/$171,004,832/$8,445,360/-4.7 percent
Weehawken/$2,607,545/$957,150/-26.9 percent
West New York/$90,188,595/$3,895,797/-4.1 percent

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Yeah, right after they finish their St. Patty's Day pints and work out the details of any plea-bargains Vega might agree to....

Our elected officials JUST DON'T GET IT.

CUT THE F**KING SPENDING.

CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT.

CUT SALARIES
MORE LAYOFFS (Mid/Senior levels)
Sell Assets
Fix broken pension system (eliminate & replace)


Get Creative with community organizations to enlist help from free volunteers


STOP SPENDING MONEY YOU DON'T HAVE.

NO MORE ABATEMENTS

I really hope this 2.5% cap on Property Taxes gets passed.

Hudson officials say Christie budget's aid cuts certain to trigger hikes in taxes

Wednesday, March 17, 2010
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Reaction by Hudson County officials to Gov. Chris Christie's "day of reckoning" budget address yesterday was swift - and in some cases harsh.

"It was a good speech, but it's a lousy budget," said Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, D-Jersey City, who blasted the proposed cuts to municipal aid, education aid, Urban Enterprise Zones, and adult education, which Christie wants to eliminate altogether.

During his one-hour address, Christie lashed out at the teachers union, past administrations for spending beyond the state's means, and even singled out the Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority for ridicule.

He proposed a constitutional amendment to cap state spending increases and property tax hikes at 2.5 percent. The proposed $28.3 billion budget, which would kick in July 1, reduces school aid by $820 million and municipal aid by $445 million.

He also said he has asked the state Department of Community Affairs to eliminate special municipal aid and extraordinary aid - something several Hudson County municipalities have banked on to balance their budgets.

Jersey City rushed to introduce its budget to include $14 million in special municipal aid before Gov. Jon S. Corzine left office in January. Union City also got a last-minute boost of $11 million in special municipal aid, and last year Harrison got $5.3 million from the same fund.

Several county officials said they were just beginning to crunch the numbers.

"The details of Governor Christie's proposal in cuts to municipal aid are just being released, and our budget team is working to analyze exactly how this will impact our city," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy said.

But Quigley, a member of the Assembly budget committee, had already reached some conclusions.

Christie's proposed 2.5 percent cap wouldn't start until the 2012 budget, she pointed out. In the meantime, the combination of state cuts and rising municipal and school expenses would drive taxes up, she said.

"In the background material the governor gave us, it said that cuts in municipal aid will amount to $250 (hike) per household," Quigley said. "That's not a tax cut.

"And there will be no rebates," she added. "And in 2011, people will be getting (in rebates) a quarter of what they got last year."

Quigley charged that the governor's proposed increase in aid to hospitals is also not what it appears. "The way he's going to get it is doubling the tax of hospitals (currently 5.3 percent of revenue) and matching it with federal dollars," she said.

North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco said taxes in the township could go up $1,000 per household if no changes are made to the Christie budget.

"The North Bergen school district is underfunded right now by $8 million," said Sacco, the district's assistant superintendent. "If you took another $5 million, I don't even know where you would start with those cuts."

Dave Drumeler, the administrator for Secaucus, said he and Mayor Michael Gonnelli are waiting on hard numbers from the state. "The mayor's concerned with what if any impact this budget will have on any of our aid," he said.

Kearny Mayor Alberto Santos was intrigued by the idea of a hard cap and reforms in arbitration procedures.

"If given meaningful tools, then the cap makes sense," Santos said.

"There are a lot of costs built in to municipalities that are not subject to our direct control," he added, citing the town's $4 million bill from the Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority.

Journal staff writers Melissa Hayes, Tom Shortell, Karina L. Arrue and Mark Maurer contributed to this story.