Medford votes to exceed N.J. property-tax cap

With the rest of the state watching, voters in Medford Township swarmed the polls Tuesday and approved a significant tax increase that community leaders said was needed to prevent the town from sinking into a default.

The measure passed with about 57 percent of the vote, according to unofficial returns - a stunning turnaround in a Republican-leaning town that last year defeated a similar tax-increase proposal by a 5-1 ratio.

Despite an antitax mood, the Burlington County town was among the three municipalities in New Jersey - out of 566 - that opted to ask voters this year for permission to exceed the state's 2 percent cap on the municipal portion of their property-tax bills.

In last month's Ask the Governor radio show on New Jersey 101.5 (WKXW-FM), Gov. Christie had urged voters to reject the referendums in Medford and Lawrence Townships, saying he believed taxes should be controlled. Demarest Borough recently scheduled a referendum for May after getting an extension from the state.

The outcome in Lawrence, in Mercer County, was not known at press time.

"The governing body of Medford Township wants to thank the public for taking the time to get informed and making a well-informed decision," Mayor James "Randy" Pace said after the votes were tallied. More than 6,000 people in the Burlington County town of 23,000 turned out.

"We are humbled by the opportunity to serve the public trust, a trust that while we serve will not be broken," Pace said.

The vote means taxes will rise $344 on a home assessed at $333,000, the township average. The increase is 25 percent above the cap.

Many of the voters interviewed in the early evening outside a polling place at the Cranberry Pines School said they understood that the town had struggled to close a $6 million budget gap and could not afford to provide municipal trash collection without a tax increase.

"It's important that we have local trash," said Jim Valentine, an operations director for a machine shop, who voted yes. "Too many services have gone down the tubes recently, and it's becoming a less desirable place to live."

Joseph Potesta, chief executive officer of a software company, agreed. "Municipal trash collection is the most efficient and least intrusive way of managing the nasty little detail," he said. Private haulers, he said, bring scheduling, accountability, and traffic issues.

But Nancy Krause, a customer-service representative, said she voted no because raising taxes is "too easy of an out." And John Guzik, a quality-assurance manager, said "the taxes are already high enough."

Town officials, however, said that they had already laid off police, eliminated recreation programs, canceled brush pickup, and made other cuts that still could not close the deficit. If taxes were not raised, residents would have been forced to obtain private trash haulers, officials said.

Pace and the all-Republican town council were swept into office in January after the previous mayor resigned amid a sex scandal. Former Mayor Chris Myers and the former council, which also was all-Republican, were blamed for excessive spending and a no-tax policy that led to crippling debt and near bankruptcy.

"This year, residents recognized our financial condition was not created overnight and would not be fixed overnight but saw fit under a new administration to trust their hard-earned money to the new governing body," Pace said after the votes were counted.

Councilman Jeffrey Beenstock said the new leaders had worked hard to educate the public about the fiscal problems. He said he was disappointed with Christie's remarks. "It's unfortunate that somebody in the governor's position, who has the ability to reach as many people as he does, makes comments that clearly show he's not informed of the situation in Medford."

Beenstock said that the town had extraordinary problems and was "trying to operate within his [Christie's] system. . . . The cap can legally be exceeded if the voters approve it."