Governor Talks Taxes, Tourism with State Newspaper Reporters

TRENTON — Eight days before voters decide the gubernatorial race, Gov. Jon Corzine (D) took questions from state newspaper reporters Oct. 26 via conference call.
“I believe I’m the strongest candidate to get us out of the recession,” he began.
When the Herald asked about young people leaving the state due to high cost of living and taxes, the governor said census reports show that there are actually more people coming into the state than leaving.
He said New Jersey residents have one of the highest income rates in the United States.
“There are better high-paying jobs here,” he said.
He said the state has one of the lowest rate of college tuition increases.
Corzine said there are property tax rebates for those who make less than $75,000/year.
Any senior citizen who makes less than $80,000/year, which is about half of all state seniors, will not have a property tax increase, he said. Those seniors would receive a rebate for the amount of increase on their bills. An average annual property tax of $7,000 would likely see a savings of about $2,500 in the “Senior Freeze” rebate program, he said.
“I’m absolutely a proponent of consolidation and shared services. There are fewer school districts today than before I became governor,” Corzine said.
He said the School Funding Formula, which calls for all school districts to have grades K-12, distributes aid based on needs of children and provides property tax relief to middle class families. The governor also advocates municipal consolidation and said the 4 percent cap encourages it. He said town mergers would make government less fragmented.
The Herald asked the governor how he plans to keep Atlantic City and the entire state competitive in tourism while Pennsylvania and Delaware continue to make advancements in gaming. The governor said 36 other states have gaming and agreed “competition is quite severe.”
He said it is key to “promote Atlantic City as a destination resort and not just a gaming facility.”
One reporter asked if Corzine would share his insider knowledge from his private sector career at Goldman Sachs.
“Investment bankers are not popular and the competition wants to make it seem like I’m responsible for what happened at Goldman Sachs 10 years after I left,” he said. “I haven’t been on Wall Street for ten years and when I left, Goldman Sachs was one of the top ten (investment banks).”
He said he was an advocate of regulation before the financial crisis.
“Financial institutions should have had those rules on an internal basis,” he added.
He said he believes it’s been corrected under President Obama.
Contact Truluck at (609) 886-8600 ext. 24 or at: ltruluck@cmcherald.com.