By TOM HESTER Jr.
TRENTON - New Jersey voters on Tuesday approved additional funding for
property tax relief, park maintenance and highway and mass transit
improvements.
The three ballot questions asked whether the state constitution should be amended to use:
-Half
the money earned from this year's sales tax increase to ease the
state's highest-in-the-nation property taxes. With 28 percent of
precints reporting, the measure was approved by 68 percent of voters,
while 32 percent opposed.
-Money from corporate income taxes to
improve and preserve state parks. This measure was favored by 57
percent of voters, with 43 percent against.
-More money from the state's gasoline tax to pay for road, bridge
and mass transit improvements. The measure was approved by 58 percent
of voters, while 42 percent of voters were against it.
State
officials were confident all would pass. New Jersey voters haven't
defeated a public question since 1990, when they rejected borrowing
$135 million for affordable housing.
None of the three measures
would increase existing taxes, although the property tax relief
question relates to an already approved increase in the sales tax from
6 percent to 7 percent.
Debate over the sales tax increase
triggered a budget stalemate that closed most government services for a
week last July. The squabble ended when sparring Democrats agreed to
let voters decide whether half the $1.2 billion in new revenue expected
from the sales tax increase should go toward property tax relief.
Assembly
Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr. pushed for the amendment and said it would
ensure money from the sales tax increase isn't used for other
government spending.
When it comes to transportation funding, the
state relies heavily on a 14.5-cent per gallon gasoline tax. Of that
amount, 9 cents currently goes into a trust fund used to maintain and
repair roads, highways, bridges and mass transit. Increasing that to
10.5 cents would raise an additional $78 million for transportation
projects.
Sen. Joseph Doria, D-Hudson, said increasing the amount
dedicated to transportation work "will help fight potential gridlock
problems for our children and grandchildren."
State parks, meanwhile, have an estimated $250 million in overdue repairs.
The
proposed constitutional amendment called for earmarking $15 million
annually from corporate taxes for parks and land preservation through
2015 and $32 million per year thereafter.
Assemblyman John
McKeon, D-Essex, said a lack of consistent park funding has led to a
decline in facilities and services offered at parks and that creating
an annual funding source for parks would reverse that trend.
