Fall 2004 Edition          

The Budget and Protecting the Water Supply   Assemblyman Bob Gordon describes his role regarding the two most important issues the legislature dealt with this year: Protecting the Water Supply and Crafting a $24 Billion Budget.    Protecting the Water Supply   Reservoirs: Most of the state's reservoirs are in the Highlands area (the northwestern border of the state). This area provides drinking water for half the state's population, including all of Bergen County.       What Could Have Happened: If we hadn't put controls on development, it would have cost us $25 billion to $30 billion over the next fifty years to filter the water. With new houses and offices and roads in the Highlands, we would have lost the natural filtering process that occurs when water flows through the soil. The water would not have gone through the soil; instead it would have picked up oil and other pollutants as it flowed down roads and driveways.   The cost of acquiring and preserving the land is minimal compared with the benefits and the cost of purification. And, it's not just residents who need water. New Jersey's industries (especially the pharmaceutical and food processing companies) are water intensive. If we hadn't protected the water the cost of doing business in New Jersey, it would have increased.   What the Highlands Legislation Did: The legislation set up zones, including a preservation area where planning and development controls supercede municipal controls. (That means the state can stop a new shopping center or a new housing development from being built. Similar controls have been put in place in the Pinelands in South Jersey and the Meadowlands.)   What Happened Behind the Scenes: As a member of the Assembly's Environmental Committee, I sat through ten hearings and heard testimony from over 500 people. The hearings got quite contentious; we actually needed to call in the state troopers.   The bill went through five drafts. For months, I spent every Sunday reading hundreds of amendments that were made to accommodate various interests. The final legislation took into account the concerns of homeowners and towns that will be affected. The Assembly committee was especially sensitive to the needs of the farmers in the area.   The Assembly Committee has a number of environmentalists (both Democrat and Republican) who were very supportive of the bill. However, there were several Republicans on the committee from the Highlands area who were reluctant to support the bill.   I wasn't privy to the horse trading that took place in the Senate and the Governor's office. I do know that because the legislation provided money to compensate property owners in the Highlands, the South Jersey Democrats insisted on similar legislation to compensate property owners in the Pinelands     The State Budget   I voted in favor of raising the tax rate for people with incomes of more than $500,000 (the so-called the "millionaires tax"). This will affect only about 5,500 households in Bergen County. In return though, the state tax rebate will go up. Seniors will be the biggest beneficiaries; their rebates will go up on average from $755 to $1,200.   I voted "No" on a number of taxes that were part of the budget. I incurred the wrath of some of my colleagues on the floor of the Assembly for voting against the realty transfer tax, which raises the tax on homes selling for more than $350,000. I thought that was unacceptable for homeowners in North Jersey.   I think New Jersey has one of the most unfair tax systems in the country. The less affluent you are, the higher percentage of your income you pay in major taxes. People in the bottom twenty percent of the income scale pay about twelve percent of their income in state and local taxes. In contrast, the top one percent of the population, in terms of income, pay about six percent of their income in state and local taxes. The system needs to be overhauled to make it more equitable.