Politics & Government

Christie's Chief of Staff Mum on Budget Specifics

Rich Bagger says the governor will address fiscal issues from local governments and state government in his budget.

Gubernatorial chief of staff Rich Bagger is remaining mum about the specifics of Gov. Chris Christie's soon-to-be-released budget proposal and the impact it will have on local governments and school districts.

Bagger said the budget, which Christie is due to announce on March 16, is still being worked on, including sections regarding state aid to municipalities and school districts. He said cuts are being made to the budget across the board in order to address the multi-billion dollar budget deficit facing the state.

"Every part of the state budget is under scrutiny," Bagger said.

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Christie last month cut $475 million in state aid to school districts for the remainder of the current state budget year, which ends on June 30. The cuts, which included a , were made to fill a $2 billion hole in the current budget. The cuts were determined based on surplus funding in local school districts. Bagger defended the school cuts, noting that they were needed to plug the budget gap and the funds came out of surplus funds.

Education Commissioner Bret Schundler warned suburban school districts last week that further state aid cuts are likely in the new budget. Bagger, interviewed at the Westfield Rotary Club pancake breakfast on Saturday, said the school district cuts are not a new discussion and said that former Education Commissioner Lucille Davy sent a letter to local school officials in the waning days of the Corzine administration last year, warning school districts to brace for potential cuts to state aid.

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"School districts have known since late last fall to prepare for the loss of state aid," Bagger said.

Cranford school officials are well aware that the cuts to state aid could be as high as 15 percent.

Bagger, a former Westfield mayor and state senator, said Christie's budget will not include all bad news for local governments and school districts. He promoted the governor's plans to reform public employee benefits plans, including requiring public employees to contribute to health insurance and moving pension plans to a model similar to private sector retirement plans.

He said Christie wants to provide the tools to mayors and Boards of Education to reduce property taxes and the benefits reform will allow local officials to renegotiate public employee contracts with reductions in benefit costs. Bagger, a former chairman of the Assembly appropriations committee, said the only way property taxes can be reduced is to bring in changes at the state level. He stressed that $6 billion of the $30 billion state budget is to fund state operations, with the rest going to assist county, municipal and school governments, along with private authorities and social services.

"Some public employees at the state and local levels pay nothing toward health coverage," Bagger said, noting that federal government employees contribute to their health coverage. "Why should federal employees pay the cost?"

Bagger also stressed Christie's continued efforts to eliminate pensions for part time public employees.

Christie's proposals in the area of public employees benefits have raised concerns with the state's politically potent teachers and public employees' unions. The teachers union endorsed Corzine during last year's election, after Christie declined to be considered for the endorsement. Bagger said the governor is unconcerned with the political ramifications of any decisions.

"He is governing as if he is a one-term governor not worrying about those things," Bagger said.

According to Bagger, local mayors and school districts have been asking Christie for the benefits reform plan and other tools to reduce property taxes. Bagger reiterated the governor's comments to mayors at last month's meeting of the state League of Municipalities and said Christie wants the group to work with him to identify ways to reduce costs. Speaking as a former mayor, Bagger said Christie's proposals, including changing public employee contract arbitration rules, will be a benefit to mayors going forward.

"That's a real reform at the state level, that mayors are looking for," Bagger said. "If the governor and legislature do it, it will give the mayors the tools they need to contain property taxes."


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