New numbers put Christie on defense
Gov. Christie dismissed new tax revenue numbers that Democrats say dampen his claim that a "Jersey comeback" is under way. The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services sent a memo today to legislators about tax revenue for the 2012 fiscal year, which ended in June. It said that revenue collections were $253.9 million short of the governor's projections, potentially affecting this year's budget and the surplus that Christie has set aside for a tax cut.
New numbers put Christie on defense
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
Gov. Christie dismissed new tax revenue numbers that Democrats say dampen his claim that a “Jersey comeback” is under way.
The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services sent a memo today to legislators about tax revenue for the 2012 fiscal year, which ended in June. It said that revenue collections were $253.9 million short of the governor’s projections, potentially affecting this year’s budget and the surplus that Christie has set aside for a tax cut.
Christie, who often derides the OLS as “partisan” and a “handmaiden” of the legislature’s Democratic majority, noted that a different OLS memo last month had estimated the administration’s revenue projections could be off as much as $542 million -- more than twice as high as the new figures.
“That’s why all of this stuff is blatantly political,” Christie said today at a news conference in the Haddonfield Memorial High School library.
Christie noted that five sources of revenue for the last fiscal year have yet to be accounted for, and final numbers won’t be known until December or January.
Nonetheless Democrats wasted no time slamming the governor for the new numbers, and noted that Christie already had budgeted for 7.3 percent growth in revenue for the fiscal year that began in July. To make up for the kind of shortfall that OLS predicted, revenue would have to go up even further.
“These numbers, when combined with slow economic growth and high unemployment, unfortunately continue a disconcerting trend for New Jersey under Gov. Christie,” Assemblyman Vincent Prieto (D., Hudson/Bergen), chairman of the budget committee, said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, we have yet to see any signs of such a so-called ‘comeback,’ despite the constant spin that budget shortfalls have been tackled.”
Prieto said he is planning hearings to address the issue.
Christie also spoke Monday to other numbers that are of particular concern in South Jersey.
Camden County is rapidly moving toward the creation of a regional police force, which would have its first patrol division in the city of Camden, effectively replacing the city police department.
The county, however, has yet to release firm figures details about how much the new force would cost and how it would be funded.
Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd has said she is confident that the state will provide enough aid for the city to sustain the department going forward.
Christie agreed — to a point.
He said a portion of the transitional aid that the state gives the city would be used toward the new department, just as that money helps fund the current city force. (The city gets about 70 percent of its budget from the state.)
But, he said, “we have to look at how it winds up being set up,” noting that he is awaiting final figures from the county on costs.
And, he said, “transitional aid” is meant to only be “transitional,” so funding won’t be there in perpetuity. The final goal is to figure out “how we can lower the amount of state aid that goes into Camden.”
“I’ve encouraged this to happen,” he said of the county force. “I think it should be the wave of the future in places that are challenged like this.”
As Christie spoke to reporters, a group of students from Haddonfield Memorial’s AP government class sat behind him. Earlier in the afternoon the governor fielded questions from students.
He said he chose to visit this high school because it is one of the highest performing in the state, and because it implemented a teacher evaluation pilot program. That program is to form the basis of a new tenure law, recently signed by Christie, that considers teacher performance when determining tenure.
One student, Gabrielle Fabbri, a 17-year-old senior, keeps up with Christie in the news and said it was incredibly “cool” to see the governor in action.
She has even followed along with the somewhat esoteric debate over OLS numbers — and she’s siding with Christie.
“He’s really, really honest,” she said. “We should just let the governor say the numbers and not spit out numbers to make a point.”
OLS is simply trying to dampen GOP momentum with trumped up numbers during the election...kinda' like Obama's "8.1%" unemployment when we all know unemployment is greater than 18%.— Professor1982- OLS has a track record of bipartisanship. They have a long history of honesty. There is no GOP momentum. They are trailing in the pols. As ALL legitimate economist and experience in europe indicates, cutting government spending in a recession that needs demand for goods and services is the opposite of what is needed. The proof is in the numbers. Instead of admiting that his policies failed and trying something else, Christie will deny the truth. That's the tough, straight talking govenor! A fake.
— MikeP 
Comment removed.- Christie is a nasty, bloviating blowhard. How can one be expected to know if he is lying? If his lips are moving, he is spouting untruths.— A836
- As opposed to Obama's "Summer of Recover" and "Hope and Change"??? At least Christie's not spending NJ into oblivion like Corzine and McGreevy did. — Professor1982
- At a national level, we are in recovery. Obama;s policy have succeeded. The spending cuts that Republican govenors have made is undermining the recovery. Did you notice the effect of Christie's policies? Laid of police, fire fighters and teachers to "balance" the budget, right? And tax revenue is down and unemployment is up. And we're heading to a huge deficit and another deficit next year and this dope is pushing for a tax cut and bragging about a recovery. — MikeP
- Comment removed.
- I praised Christie's budget cuts although I think they still need to go deeper. I praised his taking control of the teachers union to control costs...but my tax bill just came in and it went up ...AGAIN! Don't know where the money from those cuts went but ultimately we need property tax relief, I will not vote for him again. Both Dems and Repubs are crepping on the middle class.— Gray Areas
Maybe if he skips lunch for a year we could make up the difference.— jimd98- isn't it time that he and the other politicians in this country visited the lowest instead of the highest performing schools and show us how they will make the schools work.— ald
- Regardless..........Christie is not a GOP contender in '16. Too loud- too liberal and too fat............he's way down the list and will get hammered in Southern and heartland primaries.— Northcountry
- Wow Dems cheerleading for Christie to fail. I thought not giving someone new a chance and cheerleading for someone to fail was wrong. I guess Dems have changed course on that. I'd take any Dem statistics with a grain of salt because they're probably half-baked numbers. But what would a Dem Governor do? Raise minimum wage, keep spending and raise taxes. Sure, that'll get an economy going again. Besides, look at the stats of states nationally and if many states are having the same trouble, it's probably more a reflection on national politics. We saw last month that NJ unemployment went up. Dems celebrated but smart people saw that most states saw a similiar rise and knew the federal government policies probably had a big impact too.— Phillies2008WSChamps
- Nobody is cheering for Christie to fail. He has failed. The results are in. He said that getting government spending under control would lead to a balanced budget and job creation. The state felt the pain of his cuts. Where's the benefits? Unemployment is up and we're looking at a huge deficit. Democrats have been making the point that this would be the result of Christie's policies. Now they've been proven right and Christie denies the truth. You are correct that many states have seen unemployment rise. It's the states where Republican govenors followed the same strategy as Christie. Nationally, job creation is up. NJ is one of the worst in the nation. Reality check time! — MikeP
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- Other number - 9.8 unemployment. Which is why the Mittster dismissed him like dirty golden pajamas.— CiceroSpuriousDeodatus
Reach him at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattkatz00. Reach Matt at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
