Tentative Budget Reached

From the Star Ledger:

Tentative budget deal struck


Gov. Jon Corzine and New Jersey’s Assembly Speaker have struck a tentative budget deal, signaling an end to the government shutdown that furloughed tens of thousands of state workers, closed state courts and parks, and halted gambling at Atlantic City casinos, four sources with knowledge of the deal said.

The specifics of the agreement were expected to be announced later today, along with a timetable for reopening state offices and casinos and resuming other services. The governor’s office said it will hold a news conference after 4 p.m., but offered no other details.

The breakthrough came on the sixth day of the stalemate and between Corzine and Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden), who remained at odds over Corzine’s proposal to fill a billion-dollar shortfall by raising the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent. Roberts wanted a mix of taxes and spending cuts, and insisted that any new revenues in the $31 billion budget be used to relieve property taxes.

Two sources said the compromise plan keeps intact Corzine’s sales tax hike for a decade, but calls for a 50 percent of the new revenues - an amount that would dedicated by a constitutional amendment - to be set aside to offset property taxes. In a nod to Roberts, the plan also leaves open the annual possibility of increasing that percentage dedicated to property tax relief, the sources said.

(To be updated as soon as information becomes available)