Legislators Address Chamber’s 25th Annual Legislative Reporting Day

SWAINTON — First District legislators addressed Cape May County Chamber of Commerce Aug. 16 at the 25th annual Legislative Reporting Day.
Sen. Jeff Van Drew, Assemblyman Nelson Albano and Assemblyman Matthew Milam each focused on certain of their bills of concern to the district. Van Drew addressed the perennial thorn, Beesley’s Point Bridge, which the state will pay to demolish.
On demolition of the ancient wooden span linking Cape May and Atlantic counties, Van Drew said the state would “create more wetlands.” He also pointed to replacement of the southbound Garden State Parkway Beesley’s Point Bridge, built in the 1950s, is to be replaced by a three-lane span with shoulders that should accommodate more traffic into the county.
Demolition of the Route 9 bridge will “relatively soon, within the year,” said the senator. The new bridge plans are in final design, he added.
Still slugging through wetlands mitigation for long-awaited overpasses as Exits 9, 10 and 11 is the Army Corps of Engineers and state Department of Environmental Protection. Slated to begin work at the end of 2013.
“A lot of people will be real mad,” said Van Drew, if, because of bureaucratic “nonsense” related to that mitigation process, another person dies or is seriously injured in an accident at Exit 10 (Stone Harbor Boulevard intersection).
Cutting taxes, but how, was another subject Van Drew addressed. He noted the Christie Administration sought a 10 percent income tax cut while Democrats believe a property tax cut would be more beneficial. He said the Democrats would like to have the property tax cut applied as an income tax credit.
Such a cut would be “Across the board, with no argument of class warfare. I think it’s a great plan,” said Van Drew. Still, while both parties agree relief is needed, revenue projections have been dismal. “Some folks think the administration’s projections are too rosy.”
“I don’t want to be irresponsible. We can’t borrow money (to fund the tax relief). We can’t do anything that is inappropriate fiscally,” said the former freeholder and Dennis Township mayor. He said there are those who, in fact, want to raise taxes, something he looked back on his municipal and county time as being opposed to doing.
“As a freeholder we worked in a bipartisan way. It’s the same here,” he added. “Over and over again, someone will say it’s just one more tax increase, one more surcharge. Somehow we spend it. This has happened a long time in New Jersey. I agree with the governor. We are bucking our party, but I believe a tax cut should go in place,” Van Drew said.
Van Drew said it was time the state “tighten its belts. You have paid enough. Property taxes are high enough, and you need a break.”
Asked by Avalon Councilman David Ellenberg his sentiments on C.O.A.H (Council on Affordable Housing), since neither the governor, courts or municipalities can agree on what to do for affordable housing, Van Drew replied, “What we have done, frankly, is wrong.” He said when courts mandated “a certain amount of affordable housing” government was not able to do that.
“We cannot socially engineer by charging fees,” said Van Drew. “I just don’t think it works well.” He said he had tried to “exclude Cape May County from certain legislation” dealing with the housing issue, citing difficulties with sewerable areas.
“To be blunt, I am disgusted with it,” said Van Drew. “I am tired of it. It doesn’t work. It never will work, I agree with him (governor). Abolish this whole thing.
He cited the payment of “a lot of money” in engineers’, planners’ and lawyers’ fees, “And we hardly built any affordable housing than we would have if we didn’t have it (COAH).”
Regarding the problem of mainland home sellers with new regulations, Van Drew said a Realtor friend told him when an older house is sold in a non-sewered area, even if the septic area is working, a new septic system must be installed, adding greatly to the home’s cost.
Chamber President Vicki Clark told the senator that, while Cape May County contributes a disproportionate share to the state in occupancy taxes, the amount received by the Southern Shore Region this year was trimmed by $40,000.
Milam responded that he talked with the director of Travel and Tourism, and that the return of taxes should be “revisited” in proportion of what an area generates.
Van Drew noted that was not a legislative initiative, but a statutory formula ‘that can go either way. It should be based on performance.” He said Milam was “precisely right” and that the legislators would lobby the director of travel and tourism, as well as governor and lieutenant governor to see if it would be possible to “get it tweeked.” He asked the chamber to assist that effort by passing a resolution and submitting it to his office and the governor’s office.
Albano told the chamber of work he had done as chair of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee to require the federal government’s Atlantic Marine Fisheries to perform scientific studies on species of fish caught off the state’s shores.
He said that fishing, both recreational and commercial, was important to the Cape May County area, and if anglers could not take home more fish, there would be less incentive to vacation here. He said species such as flounder and bass were rebounding, and that government should do was “overreact and cut back on the size and limit that people come to Cape May County for.” He said it would “bring more people to do recreational and commercial fishing off the coast of Cape May.”
Milam, chair of the Tourism and Arts Committee cited a bill he sponsored (A 1887) that would prohibit imposing corporation business tax on “foreign corporations” (those outside the state) that carrying passengers into and out of the state in motor vehicles and buses.
Such taxes deter tour bus operators from bringing people into the state, many to Cape May County in shoulder seasons. The imposition of those taxes means it costs those operators more to bring people into the Garden State, so that they offer tours to New York and Pennsylvania where such taxes are not imposed.
Parts of this story were first published at capemaycountyherald.com
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com