Kyrillos, Kean & Beck Say Cuts In Tax Rebates, Property Tax Deductions & Aid Should Be Last On Corzine’s List

Monmouth County Senators Joe Kyrillos, Sean Kean and Jen Beck expressed disappointment, but not surprise, that Governor Corzine chose to come to Monmouth County to hold a “kitchen table” press conference. The governor is desperate to convince middle-class families that his proposal to eliminate rebates and property tax deductions won’t drive more of them from New Jersey by making the state even more unaffordable. Monmouth County residents will be among the hardest hit if his spending plan is approved:

“Governor Corzine won office in 2005 with a campaign that promised lower property taxes over the duration of his term,” Kyrillos stated. “It never happened. The governor never even proposed legislation that would meet this promise. In 2006, he raised sales taxes and agreed to use the money for higher rebates. After just one year, those rebates disappeared for many middle-class New Jersey families. Only the tax hike remains. Now he plans to cut the rebates as well as the property tax deduction.”

“Governor Corzine could have considered common-sense Republican proposals for eliminating billions of dollars of unnecessary and unjustifiable spending over the last three years,” Senator Sean Kean said. “If he had done so, the draconian cuts he is making in rebates might not have been necessary because we would have a far larger surplus to rely on today.”

“The borrowing that this governor has done without voter approval has locked us into debt payments that can not be deferred,” Senator Beck said. “For this governor, raising taxes and cutting municipal and education aid that benefits middle class has always been preferable to slowing the huge growth in state debt and spending. It is insulting that the governor is coming to Monmouth to sell his fourth budget that shortchanges the hardworking middle class residents of this county.”