Cost of pension contributions for municipal governments is expected to go up an average of 22 percent this year
Debra Wentz speaking at a March 2010 Senate budget hearingTRENTON — The Assembly Budget Committee's first of three hearings has been under way for more than an hour, with topics ranging from treatment for the addicted and mentally ill in New Jersey to the tax burden on municipalities.
Debra Wentz, chief executive officer or the New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies, testified in Trenton about underfunding for treatment of the addicted and mentally ill in New Jersey, specifically outpatient programs.
She suggested transferring money from incarceration to recovery could save the state millions of dollars.
At the end of her testimony, she called on about 30 people scattered in the audience to come up to the front of the room where she was speaking. They had stood up and raised their hands during her testimony, identifying themselves as individuals in recovery.
"Depression and addictions are one of the most prevalent chronic illnesses and one of the most underfunded as well," Wentz said.
Lowell Arye, executive director of the Alliance for Betterment of Citizens with Disabilities, engaged with committee chair Assemblyman Lou Greenwald (D-Camden) about how to close developmental centers.
"The facilities are antiquated and they can't serve as many people," Greenwald said.
Gov. Chris Christie's budget calls for closing Vineland Development Center in Cumberland County. Last month, 388 people with disabilities such as autism and cerebral palsy were living there. Christie is in the process of closing the west wing of the complex.
Arye said there has to be a guarantee of a "community infrastructure" before moving the developmentally disabled.
Buena Vista Mayor Chuck Chiarello, an officer in the League of Municipalities, called on the legislature to reform municipal taxes by passing tool kit legislation to control pension and heath benefit costs, as well as weaning the state off municipal monies.
"Giving the municipal taxpayers all the relief they have coming to them needs to be a part of the new norm," Chiarello said.
He said the cost of pension contributions for municipal governments is expected to go up an average of 22 percent this year, and health benefit costs are expected to go up 11 percent this year.