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Hammonton Blog -> Hammonton Democrats Blog -> Mayor DiDonato Hopes Toll Hike Will Boost Business
Post Info TOPIC: Mayor DiDonato Hopes Toll Hike Will Boost Business
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Mayor DiDonato Hopes Toll Hike Will Boost Business
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From FOX29 News

 

Last Edited: Wednesday, 23 Jan 2008, 9:11 PM EST
Created: Wednesday, 23 Jan 2008, 9:03 PM EST
 
Hammonton is one of the towns hoping to profit if drivers leave the highways and come through town to avoid higher tolls
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People in New Jersey Wednesday got a chance to weigh in on Governor Jon Corzine's plan to hike tolls on major roadways.  The governor's goal is to raise tolls to reduce debt.

If you ask almost any driver, they'll likely say they're against raising tolls.  That's what New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine wants to do to cut at least half of the state's 32 billion dollar debt.

Like many motorists,  Bruce Slawter feels, "It's just going to be another bill for us basically."

But after scrutinizing the proposal some people say it's not a completely bad idea.

"You're going to see some increased traffic on some of our local roads," said John DiDonado the mayor of Hammonton New Jersey.  He says small townships like his could actually see some benefit from drivers looking for alternate routes to avoid higher tolls.

"They might use White Horse Pike, Black Horse Pike, Route 54, and Route 206."

If drivers go local, DiDinado says they'll discover small towns they usually pass right by and hopefully spend money.

"A lot of people go through south Jersey from Philadelphia to the shore or through New York and probably pass Jersey in a half hour.  Now they'll be going through and experiencing maybe a roadside stand," DiDinado.

At Trina's, a lunchtime hospot on Hammonton's Main Street the owner is already cooking up her own plan for commuters. Trina Scipio said, "They'll notice our little stores and our nice little restaurants and maybe they'll stop in and we get more business."

Jackie Kincaid a customer said the affect of increased tolls could go either way with drivers.  "Because with our hurried life we're still going to want to take the route that's the fastest but if we're on a leisurely ride we'll take a back road and do some sight seeing."

Other drivers say the increased traffic through town will be a problem.
Governor Corzine wants to have the toll increased approved by mid-March.

By Shawnette Wilson

 
To see the Video report, Click Here.



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Jim--now that the governor has done a great job and gave more money to the schools to help lower property taxes, do you think the mayor's brother will pass those savings on to us?  Corzine said the schools have to lower taxes by 7%.  Will DiDonato try to tell us no tax increase is good enough and pocket the money?  Lorretta Rehmann is no better.  Jerry Vitalo showed how ARH is charging Hammonton ridiculous amounts of money.  I heard ARH makes over one million per year from the town.  Lorretta complains about your school board while she's been making a mint from the taxpayers.



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Anonymous wrote:

Jim--now that the governor has done a great job and gave more money to the schools to help lower property taxes, do you think the mayor's brother will pass those savings on to us?  Corzine said the schools have to lower taxes by 7%.  Will DiDonato try to tell us no tax increase is good enough and pocket the money?  Lorretta Rehmann is no better.  Jerry Vitalo showed how ARH is charging Hammonton ridiculous amounts of money.  I heard ARH makes over one million per year from the town.  Lorretta complains about your school board while she's been making a mint from the taxpayers.


ARH has gone over to the dark side and drank the kool-aid.  It is amazing they are making over 1 million per year just from Hammonton.  We deserve a tax cut at the school.  That is what the governor said to use the money for.  But with Rehmann and DiDonato we won't get it. 



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Before you make broad statements like a tax cut ,educate yourself on really what the Gov said.Hammonton has been underfunded by at least 40%. Do some reading on the subject, god must have given you two mouths' and one ear.After you read the 110 page bill on school funding and completely understand it, see if you still would make those comments, there are new state mandates that come with that money.Just remember It's ALL GOOD.



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Anonymous wrote:

Before you make broad statements like a tax cut ,educate yourself on really what the Gov said.Hammonton has been underfunded by at least 40%. Do some reading on the subject, god must have given you two mouths' and one ear.After you read the 110 page bill on school funding and completely understand it, see if you still would make those comments, there are new state mandates that come with that money.Just remember It's ALL GOOD.


Loretta Rehmann and Steve DiDonato have no intention of lowering our taxes.  Where will the money that the governor said was for property tax relief go?



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Where do you think the money should go? You seem to have all of the answers? A tax cut would be good, but zero is also good after all the years of high increases.Do you think that programs need to be updated? If you have children don't you want more for them? 

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Anonymous wrote:

Jim--now that the governor has done a great job and gave more money to the schools to help lower property taxes, do you think the mayor's brother will pass those savings on to us?  Corzine said the schools have to lower taxes by 7%.  Will DiDonato try to tell us no tax increase is good enough and pocket the money?  Lorretta Rehmann is no better.  Jerry Vitalo showed how ARH is charging Hammonton ridiculous amounts of money.  I heard ARH makes over one million per year from the town.  Lorretta complains about your school board while she's been making a mint from the taxpayers.



First of all the Hammonton Democrats have publicly thanked the Democratic Governor for providing funding for education as well as other issues. Click here to see Hammonton Democrats statement. But I think some clarification needs to happen. The Hammonton School District has not caught up yet with the funding we have been shorted all of those years. That is because there is a cap of 20% placed on the funding for this year. The 7% payback may kick in when our funding finally reaches the proper levels, which may take two or three more years depending on any caps put on funding in the future. Click here to see Atlantic City Press chart showing what we should have received.

Having said that, I agree with Gov. Corzine that at some point our district should return some money to the taxpayers. I do not believe it should be in this year's budget proposal because we are still too far below proper funding levels. We first have to return our district to the level of quality education and services we provided before the State started ignoring the funding law. We have many educational programs to bring back to include advanced placement and college prep courses. We also should provide busing to every student who wants it to increase the safety of our children. Times continue to change and we must protect our most valuable resource, our childre. My statements do not mean that we should rush to spend this money, we need to look very closely at any proposed increase in our budget to make sure it is the best program for our children and that it is provided in the most efficient manner.

I can not say what the current board will do, but it is clear that after raising taxes by 52.7 cents since 2000, we need to ease the burden that has been placed on our homeowners. Once we catch up to proper funding, I estimate our increase in funding to be about 75 cents, so ther is obviously room for some kind of giveback.



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The last two years at the school really are impressive when you think that the taxes had gone up by 52.7 cents as you point out since 2000, when the new school was under construction. It is great to see we are finally charging the right tuition to Waterford. All they are doing now is paying their fair share and we didn't have a tax increase this year. It's all good!

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The 52.7 did not happen as the new school was under construction. It happenned when the state stopped following the funding laws. The increases came from 2001 to the present.
And yes the last two years at the school are impressive because it proved that our district was among the most severely affected by the improper funding. Our district was hurt so badly that special legislation was enacted last year for our school and 7 others who were hurt the most in our State. If there was not a cap on increases, we would be receiving a whole lot more in funding this year. If the caps stay the same it will take a couple of years for the proper funding level to be reached for Hammonton.

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