BY JOHN SNYDER
OF THEPRESSGROUP.NET
WESTWOOD, N.J. — Days before the House and Senate passed a $1.5 trillion tax bill, which was signed by President Trump on Dec. 22, four Pascack Valley and two Northern Valley mayors participated in a bipartisan summit on what its organizer, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), called “clawing back tax dollars to Fifth District towns to improve our return on investment and save taxpayers dollars.”
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Congress voted along party lines on Tuesday and into early Wednesday to pass the most sweeping update to the tax code in decades.
As The New York Times noted Dec. 19, the approval of the bill in the House and Senate “came over the strenuous objections of Democrats, who have accused Republicans of giving a gift to corporations and the wealthy and driving up the federal debt in the process.”
It should be noted, too, that the bill strikes a huge blow to the Affordable Care Act and opens the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas drilling.
Four out of five Republicans in Congress from New Jersey voted against the bill, alongside all seven Democrats in the New Jersey Congressional Delegation.
“I voted against the tax bill today because it significantly reduces the ability of New Jerseyans to deduct state and local taxes,” said U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Westfield). “Also, as a deficit hawk, I do not favor adding $1.5 trillion to the national debt.”
The legislation was much in mind at the Saturday, Dec. 16 summit, inspiring talk around “the disastrous impact that the tax hike bill will have on New Jersey towns and steps we can take to blunt the impact as ‘moocher states’ steal our tax dollars,” Gottheimer said.
Westwood Mayor John Birkner Jr. hosted the event at the Westwood Community Center.
Also attending were Emerson Mayor Lou Lamatina, Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali, and Park Ridge Mayor Keith Misciagna, Harrington Park Mayor Paul A. Hoelscher, and Alpine Mayor Paul H. Tomasko, along with the mayors of Bergenfield, Franklin Lakes, Glen Rock, Hackensack, Mahwah, Oakland, Paramus, and Ramsey.
Council representatives came in from Dumont, Fair Lawn, River Edge, Rochelle Park, Teaneck, and Wyckoff.
The summit was part of a series of such meetings the congressman has held since taking office in January.
“North Jersey mayors are working hard to save their residents property tax dollars to help their schools and first responders get what they need,” Gottheimer said. “I’m proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with Fifth District mayors to do just that.”
He said, “We are paying far too much in federal taxes and the tax hike bill is only going make that worse—eliminating our state and local tax deductions, increasing our taxes and lowering our property values.”
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Gottheimer noted the district pays some of the highest federal taxes in the nation and historically has only gotten back 33 cents on the dollar for what is sent to Washington.
“That’s compared to Mississippi, which gets $4.38. For the dollars that we already sent to Washington, we need to claw back as much as possible and boost our return on our investment by fighting for federal grants,” Gottheimer said.
He touted “record successes this year” to support police officers, firefighters, and towns.
Tomasko said on Dec. 19 that he commends Gottheimer “for making his best effort to preserve the SALT [state and local tax] deductions and for bringing grant opportunities to our attention.”
He also said he appreciates Gottheimer’s “concern about our state’s ability to attract businesses and keep high earners if a state millionaires tax were to be imposed in addition to the federal tax code changes.”
Birkner said that talks included Gottheimer’s work with the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, tax reform, regional infrastructure and transportation, and how municipalities can maximize their return of tax dollars to their communities through grant opportunities.
Earlier this year, the officials discussed the federal 1033 Program, which transfers excess military equipment to civilian law enforcement agencies.
“I brought this to the borough council earlier in the year and the governing body passed a resolution supporting the inclusion of Westwood in the program. To date we have obtained supplies, equipment, and vehicles with a value of $347,915,” Birkner said.
At Westwood’s Dec. 19 borough council meeting, Council President Christopher Montana reported the borough had acquired a planned capital purchase, a $150,000 tree truck, through the program for free.
Processing and applying logos will cost the borough less than $10,000.
Emerson Mayor Lou Lamatina said he was pleasantly surprised to get a call from Gottheimer two days before the summit inviting him to attend.
“And I am glad that I attended. During the summit, the congressman walked us through the various federal grant programs available to municipalities, which will allow towns to reduce capital costs,” he said.
Lamatina used part of the time to arrange with Gottheimer’s return on investment specialist, Jake Briggs, a meeting with himself, Emerson’s police chief, DPW superintendent, and borough administrator “to immediately begin work on returning some of our hard-earned tax dollars from Washington so that our residents can begin to realize some degree of tax fairness.”
Photo courtesy Josh Gottheimer’s office