Collingswood Officials Weigh in on Governor's Address

Two highly-anticipated aspects of Gov. Chris Christie's annual budget address—which he made at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22— were state aid for municipalities and schools.

While Christie's address detailed the two, official numbers won't be released until sometime in the next 48 hours.

Until then, Collingswood officials can only comment on what the governor did say on Tuesday.

In regard to how much municipal aid the state will provide to New Jersey municipalities during this fiscal year, Christie said aid will stay flat.

"And also in the context of property taxes, this year’s budget continues to provide municipalities with steady aid," said Christie Tuesday. "That's right, mayors—at the exact same level as last year. So there is no excuse for this relief to be eaten up with higher local taxes, between receiving no further cut in municipal aid, and implementing a 2 percent cap on property taxes."

Collingswood Mayor James Maley responded to the governor's plan.

"Happy to hear no further cuts in aid," said Maley. "It would be nice to hear about pension reform as well. In six years, our state pension bill has risen from $150,000 to over $1.5 million. We are doing everything we can to reduce the tax burden and maintain our services."

Christie waited until later in his address to discuss school aid.

"I have not commented yet on education because it is a special case...," said Christie. "We will increase education aid to every school district in New Jersey."

During Tuesday's address, the governor admitted his struggle in making cuts to last year's aid.

"I agonized over making cuts to education aid last year, they were the very last cuts I approved," he said. "It was not a decision I took lightly. It was not something I wanted to do. However, in a year where shared sacrifice was required from everyone, it was a necessary choice."

But because of that sacrifice, Christie said this year will reap more benefit.

“Today, because of the hard and necessary choices we have made, I am pleased to report we are able to provide an increase of $250 million in school aid. This will allow every district in the state to receive increased aid," said Christie.

And while Collingswood Public School District Superintendent Scott A. Oswald was approving of increased aid, he said numbers will speak for themselves.

"More aid for schools sounds good, but the devil is in the detail," said Oswald of waiting for the release of actual state aid figures. "The details usually come out within 48 hours, sometimes sooner."

And until those numbers are released, all anyone can do is wait.

* Don't forget to take a peek at Gov. Christie's official budget presentation—which includes various, user-friendly charts and graphs—explaining budget plans. The presentation is attached to this story as a PDF file. Click it to open!