DeCroce Supports Call For More Local Traffic Funding

Source: Associated Press -

Lawmakers are calling for local governments to get a bigger share of funding from New Jersey to address transportation issues in cities and counties.
Exactly how to do that and how much bigger a share of the Transportation Trust Fund local governments should get is unclear.

 “It’s important for us to do this in a smart way, but also to make sure more money gets down to the local level and [that] some of the bureaucratic ways, with regards to inspection and oversight, is streamlined.” — Assembly Republican BettyLou DeCroce

 Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John S. Wisniewski (D., Middlesex) and the panel discussed the issue Thursday during the fourth and final field hearing on the trust fund, in Atlantic City. It was the final day of the annual League of Municipalities conference.

The trust fund, financed in part through a 10.5-cent tax on gasoline, is facing a funding shortfall next year. Currently, all money dedicated to the fund pays for debt service on previous infrastructure projects. New projects are funded through additional debt.

The Legislature and the governor are aiming to come to an agreement by the start of the next fiscal year – July 1 – when officials will have to decide to take on more debt or to abandon new projects altogether. Officials prefer neither of those options, so the conversation has focused on raising more revenue through tax increases.

Several lawmakers have outlined proposals to raise taxes, but so far none has attracted enough support to pass the Legislature.

Increasing municipalities’ share of the trust fund, which Wisniewski said stood at 15 percent of the $1.6 billion in the fund, adds another layer of complexity to a problem whose solution has vexed lawmakers.

Republican Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce of Morris County said she supported increasing the share of the trust fund to local governments, but needed to see more statistics before saying exactly how much more municipalities should get.

She suggested that cutting regulations and permitting should be a part of the conversation, rather than just raising taxes.

“It’s important for us to do this in a smart way,” she said, “but also to make sure more money gets down to the local level and [that] some of the bureaucratic ways, with regards to inspection and oversight, is streamlined.”