KARROW APPLAUDS COUNCIL ON LOCAL MANDATES DECISION REGARDING RURAL POLICING

KARROW APPLAUDS COUNCIL ON LOCAL MANDATES DECISION REGARDING RURAL POLICING         

Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow (R – Hunterdon and Warren) voiced her strong support regarding today’s decision by the Council on Local Mandates that said the requirement for rural towns to pay for their police coverage was “an illegal unfunded mandate.”  The Council’s decision was praised by numerous Assembly Republicans representing districts whose towns faced the likelihood of raising property taxes to pay for the service.

“As I stated in July, this mandate was an attack on the rural areas of the state,” stated Karrow.  “Fortunately, the Council properly interpreted the constitutional amendment regarding state mandates.  Today’s decision represents a victory for the 89 towns that would have been impacted by the Corzine administration’s indifference to their situation.  However, now taxpayers and elected officials will have to be on the lookout for another backdoor attempt by this administration to recoup the revenues they were banking on from this assessment.”

The rural policing issue first surfaced in the spring when the Department of Treasury proposed requiring most towns utilizing state police to contribute $20 million towards the service.  Later, that figure was reduced to $12 million when the final state budget was approved.  Interestingly, cities such as Camden that utilize state police services were not included among those towns facing the surcharge nor were the countless towns that use the State Police forensic and maritime services – services not constitutionally guaranteed as is the case with the Rural Patrols.

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