Trenton has made it clear that controlling costs is the prime objective this budget season. However, in controlling costs local taxpayers are bearing the burden as municipal and education budgets continue to grow, likely showing no real savings to the taxpayers who ultimately have to financially support these budgets.

Trenton this year said that it would cut state aid for municipalities. In some cases such as Englewood that resulted in a $1 million loss to the budget, which will be made up through hire taxes, if spending isn’t reduced.

The Trenton plan does not benefit taxpayers, it only shifts more of the financial burden to the individual towns instead of spreading the burden between all of the state’s municipality.

We recognize that state and municipal budgets are getting out of control. But funding should not have been cut from communities. Trenton should have cut some of its programs and personnel that way taxpayers would have seen true savings. Instead, this funding cut plan will only serve to shift the burden on taxpayers and continue to help tax levies increase. Now municipalities will have to find ways to recoup losing millions of dollars from budgets, and the likely answer is not one that taxpayers are going to want to endorse.