Corzine must provide full accounting of funds secretly funneled through port

Senator Phil Haines, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, called on Governor Jon Corzine to provide a full accounting of the monies routed through the South Jersey Port Corporation (SJPC).

“I was shocked when I learned that the South Jersey Port Corporation’s payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to the City of Camden had quadrupled this year,” Haines stated. “New Jersey taxpayers already provide Camden $115.8 million in direct state aid, roughly $50 million from the distressed cities program and now $6 million more through a back door deal with the SJPC.

The governor has stated that New Jersey is broke. Where is this additional money coming from?”
The SJPC is a tax exempt agency, established in 1968 for the development of port facilities in the South Jersey Port District. Formerly administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the SJPC was placed under the Department of Treasury in 2007.

The State Treasurer or his designee is an ex officio member of the SJPC board.
“It defies common sense that the same Department of the Treasury helped Camden craft its budget, then turned around and filled the budget gap it helped create with a secret payment through the SJPC,” Haines continued. “It is appalling that at the same time the Corzine administration is sneaking money into Camden through a back door, it is cutting school aid, municipal aid, and state police patrols, increasing taxes and adding onerous COAH fees in almost every other area of New Jersey. Where is the accountability the governor promised us in his inaugural speech?”