South Jersey Mayors Say Tax Cap Puts Cart Before Horse

by KYW's Pat Loeb

New Jersey governor Chris Christie is celebrating final passage of a two-percent-per-year cap on property tax increases -- but Garden State mayors are warning it will mean severe cuts in local budgets.

Cherry Hill mayor Bernie Platt, for instance, says the tax cap is a band-aid on New Jersey's public spending problems:

"I'm just very disappointed that they passed it today."

Platt says there are a host of reforms pending in the legislature that would allow local governments to economize and keep their budgets in check, but the legislature passed the tax cap first, leaving towns like Cherry Hill with few options:

"And that means that we're going to have to lay off more policeman next year, we're going to have to lay off more employees, and services will be cut."

Governor Christie has promised to keep working for those cost-containing reforms, but South Jersey local officials say that if the reforms had passed, the cap would have been unnecessary -- because no mayor wants to raise taxes.