(TRENTON) – Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson/Bergen) released the following statement Thursday after the Joint Budget Oversight Committee approved a $4.5 million appropriations transfer to ensure adequate Meadowlands region property tax relief.
Language appropriating the funding was line-item vetoed out of this fiscal year’s state budget as part of an oversight, but Thursday’s vote restores it. Under legislation Prieto sponsored, the funding will ensure property tax relief under the region’s municipal tax sharing program should revenue from the 3 percent Meadowlands region hotel assessment fall short.
The $4.5 million was transferred from New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority operations.
Carlstadt, East Rutherford, Jersey City, Kearny, Little Ferry, Lyndhurst, Moonachie, North Arlington, North Bergen, Ridgefield, Rutherford, South Hackensack, Secaucus and Teterboro are in the tax sharing program, which was devised in the early 1970s as a means to share the costs and benefits of regional zoning in the Meadowlands region.
“This vote is great news for taxpayers in the Meadowlands region. This means these communities will get the property tax relief they need, which is how the system is supposed to work.
“My intention here was to ensure property tax relief for these Meadowlands communities that have long sacrificed amid environmental and planning concerns. This achieves that goal and will help bring new jobs and economic development to the Meadowlands region and stabilize communities.
“This is a common sense, fiscally responsible approach. I look forward to seeing the benefits come to fruition in the years to come.”