N.J. Democrats say the proposed reforms will burden taxpayers
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Gov. Chris Christie holds a press conference at The Trenton War Memorial in June.TRENTON — Raising the specter of higher fees and worse services for New Jersey residents, Democrats and advocates Friday criticized a Christie administration report recommending the state privatize millions of dollars in government functions.
"It’s becoming clear this governor hasn’t met a fee hike on average New Jerseyans that he couldn’t embrace," Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) said. "Fee is just another three-letter word for tax."
A task force created by Gov. Chris Christie and led by former U.S. representative Richard Zimmer issued a report Friday saying the state could save at least $210 million annually through privatizing services like health care for prison inmates and career centers for the unemployed.
The governor called the report a "path for change that will benefit New Jersey’s taxpayers."
The group’s ideas are still far from reality — agencies need to study the recommendations and request proposals from interested companies. But the report already has Democrats recalling previous failed privatization policies.
"Our history with privatization is dotted with instances where we’ve had to go back and spend more just to clean up mistakes," Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said.
Democrats highlighted a proposal to make motorists pay for their own emissions tests as essentially a tax.
"This plan and its tax hikes on average New Jerseyans will require a hard analysis," Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) said.
The following are areas where the task force recommended shifting government responsibilities to private companies:
TRANSPORTATION
Making motorists pay for emissions tests isn’t the only transportation-related recommendation from the report. The task force proposed privatizing bus maintenance and parking facility operations, two functions handled by NJ Transit.
The report also said the state should outsource toll collection to a private company that will pay workers up to 50 percent less. Franceline Ehret, who leads a toll collectors union, said the idea stunned her.
"All they want to do is cut and slam public employees and make us the scapegoats," she said.
The state has examined other privatization opportunities involving highways, such as selling naming rights for New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway service areas and having companies run rest stops along Routes 80, 78 and 295.
PARKS AND LANDMARKS
The task force said the state could save up to $8.2 million if companies ran all of New Jersey’s 58 parks. The state already permits some private operations in parks, such as concession stands, marinas and boat rentals. But the parks themselves are run by state employees.
Emile DeVito of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation questioned whether the state could privatize the parks and still meet the mission of protecting forests and wildlife.
"We are supposed to be managing for the protection of natural resources. I don’t know what this does to that," he said.
The task force recommended finding a private contractor to operate the Trenton War Memorial, which includes an 1,800-seat concert hall. A previous deal allowing the Marriott hotel to run the facility ended in 2005 when costs increased, but Friday’s report estimated $800,000 in savings through privatization.
SOCIAL SERVICES
The report suggests selling at least one of four public psychiatric hospitals to save the state between $9.6 million and $22.4 million a year.
Joseph Young, executive director of Disability Rights New Jersey, a legal advocacy group, said he felt uneasy about turning over a hospital for severely ill patients to a company with a "money-making motive."
The state also could save the state $3.74 million by privatizing the "inefficient" system for collecting child support payments, the report said.
EDUCATION AND JOBS
The report said families dissatisfied with special-needs classes at their public schools should receive a scholarship to attend a different public school or a private one. In addition, the report said the state should stop using taxpayer money to build preschool classrooms.
The task force also said New Jersey’s 18 career centers to help the unemployed with job training and searches could be privatized.
Staff writers Mike Frassinelli, Claire Heininger, Susan K. Livio, Peggy McGlone and Brian T. Murray contributed to this report.