TRENTON — About 40 mayors from around the state turned up at the Statehouse this morning to lobby Gov. Chris Christie and lawmakers from both parties to speed up the passage of 33 "tool kit" measures to help towns keep tax increases below a 2 percent cap passed in July. The morning started with a pep talk by Christie,...
Montclair Mayor Jerry Fried says Gov. Chris Christie blamed the Assembly for not moving fast enough on the "tool kit" bills needed to control property taxes.TRENTON — About 40 mayors from around the state turned up at the Statehouse this morning to lobby Gov. Chris Christie and lawmakers from both parties to speed up the passage of 33 "tool kit" measures to help towns keep tax increases below a 2 percent cap passed in July.
The morning started with a pep talk by Christie, who mayors present said blamed Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) for not moving fast enough on the "tool kit" bills.
"He basically put the onus on the Legislature — on Sheila Oliver," said Montclair Mayor Jerry Fried.
Sweeney has posted several "tool kit" related bills for a vote, but Oliver — whose house has twice as many members as Sweeney's — has taken a slower, more deliberative approach.
After the governor's talk, mayors flooded into the halls of the Statehouse to meet with legislators of both parties.
Hope Township Mayor Tim McDonough, an organizer of the lobby day, said meetings are scheduled for this afternoon with Oliver and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester).
"You've heard it time and time again — you can't get to the cap without the toolkit," said McDonough, an independent. "This should be a nonpartisan effort."
Previous coverage:
• Times of Trenton editorial: Hammer out tool kit reforms
• Star-Ledger editorial:Unions putting up stiff resistance to big hammer in property tax 'tool kit
• N.J. Assembly committee approves bill in Gov. Christie's 2 percent tax cap 'tool kit'
• N.J. lawmaker to propose bill allowing property tax hike larger than 2 percent cap
• Star-Ledger editorial: Pushing savings: Christie's checklist will help taxpayers