(TRENTON) — Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Bergen/Hudson) had the following published recently in the Newark Star-Ledger:
“We’ve heard about the potholes. We’ve heard about the decaying bridges. And we’ve heard about the agonizing commutes. But when discussing a huge factor in determining the future of New Jersey — whether the state has a solvent fund to pay for transportation improvements – one concern often escapes attention: property taxes.
“Property taxes have long been a leading concern in New Jersey. Various reforms have helped here and there along the way, but one cannot solve the property tax problem in this state without first solving the transportation funding crisis.
“The two are intertwined, and while some refuse to accept this difficult reality, failing to resolve the transportation crisis will make the property tax problem much worse, as difficult as that would be to fathom.
That’s why I’ve made resolving the depletion of the Transportation Trust Fund a top goal. In my opinion, nothing else matters if we let out transportation funding disappear or devise a half-hearted fix. The ramifications are too severe…”
To read the rest of Speaker Prieto’s op-ed, click here.