On Friday, Demand “No Bailout” Without
Insight and Accountability Occurring First
October 6,
2016
The New
Jersey Taxpayers Association (NJTPA) asks, “Where is the Money?”
Friday’s
New Jersey legislature vote is premature.
As it may burden the average New Jersey family with one of the largest
tax increases in state history, legislators need a forensic audit for all
transit monies before grabbing for more.
No responsible legislator can, with honesty and
compassion, vote to increase the gas tax by 23 cents per gallon without knowing
where all the money has gone. The “cost drivers” must be assessed and
addressed before the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) is bailed out. We
have legislators pointing out that New Jersey’s road construction is the most
expensive in the nation. The PATH trains run a $400,000,000
deficit. New Jersey's contracts for road maintenance require outrageous
and inefficient work processes.
The Governor has done nothing to remedy
inefficient and costly operations. Legislators
owe this no respect – gain the insight from a forensic audit and “fix first”
before borrowing more.
New Jersey
collects more toll money than any other state but New York. Commuters
have seen Hudson River crossing tolls almost double. The Garden State
Parkway tolls were to be dismantled long ago. And gas tax revenues have
doubled with the current gas tax. Where is
all of this money going and why is it never enough?
How can leadership call for a vote without
fixing the wasteful spending first? The NJTPA asks for common sense to
prevail - not politics as usual. First perform a forensic audit before shaking
down the taxpayer.
Legislators
are acting like debt addicts: knowing there is a problem but crazed and seeking
a new generational “debt fix”. New Jersey needs a forensic audit to end
this debt cycle.
Any legislator, regardless of party, who seeks
to vote on a gas tax without a forensic audit has lost track of history. Only more waste and a larger debt will
result.
Taxpayers
have had enough. The gas tax is the proverbial line in the sand where taxpayers
unite, stand and fight, tooth and claw to return New Jersey to sanity. Today, call on your Senator and Assemblyman
to vote “NO” until there is a forensic audit.
