On Wednesday, January 21, the League held its Twelfth Annual Mayors' Legislative Day, in the State House Annex in Trenton. All of the speak­ers — State Treasurer John McCormac, DCA Commissioner Susan Bass Levin, Assemblymen Joe Mal-one, Lou Greenwald, Minority Leader Alex DeCroce and Assembly Speaker Albio Sires, Senators John Adler, Pete Inverso, Ron Rice and Minority Leader Leonard Lance, and Governor McGreevey — made a point of thanking those present for their dedication to the people they serve. Likewise, they all promised to work with the League and the municipal officials who comprise our membership.

The good news from Treasurer McCormac is that, while things are still bad, they are not getting any worse. Having struggled through two straight multi-billion dollar budget deficits, there's something to be said for that. However, that may not say much about the prospects for increased property tax relief funding in the immediate future.

DCA Commissioner Bass Levin hopes to breathe new life into the REDI program. This would provide financial aid for the implementation of cooperative purchasing or shared service initiatives. She and her staff, also, continue to work on a "Toolbox" full of programs, policies and ideas, to help local officials work more efficiently, effectively and economically.

Please do your part to help make Governor McGreevey and our legislative leaders aware of your opinions on state spending priorities and on the policies that they will consider

On the Legislative front, a number of worthwhile initiatives could be in the offing. From a coordinated and consistent state land use policy, across state departments and agencies (Assemblyman Malone), to an assault on unnecessary expenditures and administrative redundancy (Assemblyman Greenwald), to traffic congestion relieving transportation initiatives (Minority Leader DeCroce), to a "Millionaires' Tax" to increase property tax relief funding (Speaker Sires), to impact fees (Senator Inverso), to a special property tax reform convention (Senator Adler), to mandates relief (Senator Rice), to making school board elections a more effective means to control education spending (Minority Leader Lance), we heard a lot of good ideas.

And Governor McGreevey, picking up on some of the themes of his November address to us in Atlantic City and January's State of the State, hammered home the imperative of reducing the administrative expenses of New Jersey's 600-plus school districts. And again, he promised to fight for the rights of local officials to impose impact fees on developers and to enact Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) ordinances to control sprawl and, thereby, help to control property taxes. And, in response to a question from Maplewood Vice Mayor David Huemer, the Governor joined Senate Minority Leader Lance in voicing support for a special property tax reform convention, if that body is given the power to consider expenditures, as well as revenue, reforms.

FROM 407 WEST STATE STREET.....   Mayors' Legislative Day Yields Insights on State Policy William G. Dressel, Jr. Executive Director New Jersey League of Municipalities On Wednesday, January 21, the League held its Twelfth Annual Mayors' Legislative Day, in the State House Annex in Trenton. All of the speak­ers — State Treasurer John McCormac, DCA Commissioner Susan Bass Levin, Assemblymen Joe Mal-one, Lou Greenwald, Minority Leader Alex DeCroce and Assembly Speaker Albio Sires, Senators John Adler, Pete Inverso, Ron Rice and Minority Leader Leonard Lance, and Governor McGreevey — made a point of thanking those present for their dedication to the people they serve. Likewise, they all promised to work with the League and the municipal officials who comprise our membership. The good news from Treasurer McCormac is that, while things are still bad, they are not getting any worse. Having struggled through two straight multi-billion dollar budget deficits, there's something to be said for that. However, that may not say much about the prospects for increased property tax relief funding in the immediate future. DCA Commissioner Bass Levin hopes to breathe new life into the REDI program. This would provide financial aid for the implementation of cooperative purchasing or shared service initiatives. She and her staff, also, continue to work on a "Toolbox" full of programs, policies and ideas, to help local officials work more efficiently, effectively and economically. Please do your part to help make Governor McGreevey and our legislative leaders aware of your opinions on state spending priorities and on the policies that they will consider   On the Legislative front, a number of worthwhile initiatives could be in the offing. From a coordinated and consistent state land use policy, across state departments and agencies (Assemblyman Malone), to an assault on unnecessary expenditures and administrative redundancy (Assemblyman Greenwald), to traffic congestion relieving transportation initiatives (Minority Leader DeCroce), to a "Millionaires' Tax" to increase property tax relief funding (Speaker Sires), to impact fees (Senator Inverso), to a special property tax reform convention (Senator Adler), to mandates relief (Senator Rice), to making school board elections a more effective means to control education spending (Minority Leader Lance), we heard a lot of good ideas. And Governor McGreevey, picking up on some of the themes of his November address to us in Atlantic City and January's State of the State, hammered home the imperative of reducing the administrative expenses of New Jersey's 600-plus school districts. And again, he promised to fight for the rights of local officials to impose impact fees on developers and to enact Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) ordinances to control sprawl and, thereby, help to control property taxes. And, in response to a question from Maplewood Vice Mayor David Huemer, the Governor joined Senate Minority Leader Lance in voicing support for a special property tax reform convention, if that body is given the power to consider expenditures, as well as revenue, reforms. By the time you read this, the Governor will have unveiled his spending plan for the state's next fiscal year. Please do your part to help make him and our legislative leaders aware of your opinions on state spending priorities and on the policies that they will consider throughout the rest of this year     Editorial from New Jersey Municipalities, Volume 81, Number 2, February 2004