Randolph Dems thinks Town Council doth protest too much
6/5/08
Gary Algeir and the Randolph Town Council recently wrote an “open letter” to the Governor, seeking to blame him for the Randolph Town Council’s decision to raise our municipal taxes again. To paraphrase William Shakespeare, “we think he doth protest too much”
What Mr. Algeier does NOT mention in his letter is this:
From 1998 to 2007, local governments were given an opportunity to skip or reduce their required payments into the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS). This “Pension Holiday” was granted by then Governor Christie Whitman.
The primary purpose of the “pension holiday” reductions in local government PFRS contributions was property tax relief. Yet statistics demonstrate that during the same period that Randolph was making limited or no contributions to the pension system, Gary Algeier and his followers on the Town Council were STILL RAISING OUR TAXES. Yes that’s right; property taxes rose in Randolph, despite the Pension Holiday.
Gary Algeier has RAISED taxes every year that he has been on the Town Council. So, the real question, the one that Gary Algeier doesn’t want you to ask is this:
What did they do with the money?
Considering that Randolph skipped hundreds of thousands of dollars in pension contributions from 2000-2008, residents and taxpayers should be asking themselves where this money was spent while their taxes were rising.
If the money was not used for local property tax relief, then what was it used for?
Whatever the money was used for, it clearly did not result in a reduction in local property taxes. Our property taxes did not go down on Gary Algeier’s watch. Did yours?
Gary Algeier and his followers on the Town Council need to be held accountable. They were thrilled when Christie Whitman gave them a break on their pension payments. They chose to spend the money while taxes went up. Now that they are finally being presented with the bill for what they owe the system, they are trying to shift the blame on to Governor Corzine. It’s like a teenager with a credit card. Did they think they wouldn’t have to pay the money back?
Playing the “blame game” is not showing leadership. Making tough decisions is. Algeier and his followers have had numerous opportunities to cut taxes, and they have no one to blame but themselves for their current budget problems.
Jay Sweifach, Howard Schoenberger, Daniel Lynn
