Governor Christie Tells Local Officials – Stop Complaining And Moaning!

Governor Chris Christie is once again calling on the people of Lawrence and Medford to vote no today, on the proposal to raise property taxes above the state’s 2 percent cap.

Local officials in those towns insist higher property taxes are needed to cover garbage collection costs.

During a stop this morning in Bridgewater, the Governor said folks at the municipal level “have to get serious about complying with the cap – and stop looking for ways to get around it …on my way here today I had a conversation with Senator Sweeney – we’re working together on the bill to plug the loopholes.”

Christie says when the cap was created , he and State Senate President Steve Sweeny only allowed for 3 exceptions  – public debt payments, health benefits and pension costs - “but we knew there would be inventive local officials who would try to find ways around it, and we’ve now started to see that manifest itself – so he and I made a commitment before to each other – but we renewed it again on the phone this morning – that we’re going to plug those loopholes – we’re going to do it together.”

The Governor adds he’s sick and tired of hearing local officials moaning about how hard it is to make budget cuts to be able to operate under the cap, and if they don’t watch it, the cap might be lowered.

“They should be very careful about where they’re going here, says Christie, “we’re serious about getting property tax relief to the people of this state and they should not trifle with us … I‘ve heard the arguments (about how hard it is to make cuts) - I’m bored by them – this is the world we live in- get with it – the public is tired of paying for the excuses of local elected officials…we’ve had to do the same thing at the state level – sorry – if it’s too tough for you, don’t run again – let’s elect some people who will actually fix the problem.”