New Jerseyans Prefer Budget Cuts to Tax or Toll Hikes
TRENTON, NJ (AP) -- Half of New Jersey voters prefer tackling state budget woes through drastic budget cuts rather than increasing highway tolls or taxes, a new poll has found.
The Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll found 49 percent prefer ``very steep budget cuts'' over increasing highway tolls or gasoline and income taxes.
``The blood and gore of the budget cuts has not yet shaken voters,'' said Peter Woolley, a political scientist and the poll director.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine has proposed $2.7 billion in spending cuts to try to right state finances for the fiscal year that starts July 1, but the Democratic governor also has proposed significant toll increases to pay down state debt.
While the poll found most New Jerseyans back spending cuts, it found Corzine's fellow Democrats viewing things differently.
It found 50 percent of Democrats back increasing tolls or taxes, with 37 percent backing steep budget cuts.
Democrats control the Assembly 48-32 and the Senate 23-17.
``How the budget cuts play to Democratic voters is key to the governor's success or failure in the Legislature,'' Woolley said.
Corzine has proposed sharp cuts in state aid for New Jersey's 323 small towns, but the poll found only 6 percent blame budget woes on ``too many small towns.''
Forty-three percent blamed ``fraud and abuse'' and 18 percent blamed ``pensions and health care for public employees.''
The poll also found 77 percent of voters, no matter what size community they live in, expect their property taxes to increase in the coming year.
The state has the nation's highest property taxes, averaging $6,800 per homeowner.
The poll also found just 38 percent have a favorable impression of Corzine, with 52 percent saying they had an unfavorable view, a reversal from March 2006.
``For a long time voters have given Jon Corzine high personal marks even if they didn't approve of this or that proposal,'' Woolley said. ``He may have come to the end of that good will.''
The telephone poll of 816 New Jersey registered voters statewide was conducted from March 24-30 and has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
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