Chris Christie Faces $527M NJ Budget Gap: Expect Less Money In Your Pocket

The state wants taxpayers to bail out the Christie administration as New Jersey scrambles to close a $527 million budget gap.

The Christie administration plans to close the big budget hole by delaying property-tax relief payments in the 2016-17 fiscal year and then going after people haven't paid their taxes.

New Jersey State Treasurer Ford Scudder told the Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday the state needs to take whatever approach is necessary to close a $527 million budget hole in the fiscal year that ends June 30.

He said the gap, according to The Asbury Park Press, is “reflective of a formula of reduced revenue growth rates that continues to play out in the majority of states across the country.’’

Read more: NJ Property Tax Hikes, Town-By-Town: What Are You Paying?

The Christie administration, therefore, is pushing off payments totaling $307.5 million that go to municipalities to cover Homestead property tax relief credits until the new fiscal year begins in July, according to NJ Spotlight.

That means municipalities that also operate on a fiscal year calendar will have to scramble to close their own unexpected shortfalls, local government representatives told NJ Spotlight.

The delay shifts the funding of the program into the next fiscal year, according to The Press.

“While this is a step that we would prefer not to take, we view this two-month delay as a vastly superior option than reducing the pension payment or reducing other programming spending in the last two months of the (fiscal) year,’’ Scudder said in the Press account.

Panel chairman Sen. Paul Sarlo, a Democrat from Bergen, asked for assurance that the state will make good on the obligation, according to The Press. “It’s not a shift where we’re eliminating one year?’’ Sarlo asked. “No sir,’’ Scudder said.

The number of homeowners who will face delays in payments and the total of reimbursement money being delayed to towns was not available. Michael Darcy, executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, said towns with significant shortfalls “could be forced to postpone work or programs they prioritized to benefit their residents,’’ according to the report.

Patch file photo