N.J. bill aims to shuttle energy money to towns

A bill introduced in the New Jersey Legislature would give towns a greater share of energy tax revenue.  In recent years New Jersey has been keeping a larger portion of the revenue from taxes on utility company pipes, wires, and other equipment.

Senator Linda Greenstein is one of the sponsors of legislation that would phase-in a return of more of that money to local governments over the next five years.”This is a good year for this because we’re talking about giving back property tax relief. So you can tie this in with the other property tax relief that we’re looking at and say this is another form of relief,” said Greenstein.Supporters of the measure hope that gradually increasing the amount given to municipalities will improve the chances that Gov. Chris Christie will go along with it.

New Jersey League of Municipalities President Art Ondish says the bill starts the process of getting more of the money to towns to help them control property taxes.