KEAN SAYS PROPOSED NJ TRANSIT FARE HIKE
YET ANOTHER HIT ON RESIDENT'S WALLETS

With the head of New Jersey Transit calling for a 10 percent fare hike for both bus and rail transportation, Assemblyman Sean Kean said today it's unfathomable that another state agency is looking to pick the pockets of New Jersey residents."Another day, another hit to the wallets of state residents,� said Kean, R-Monmouth. "Higher taxes, higher tolls, higher fares. The exodus will continue. The Garden State is becoming less and less affordable for middle class working families. When are the Democrats who run Trenton going to wake up and smell the coffee?"

It was reported in an Associated Press article yesterday that NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington, who was appointed by former Governor James McGreevey, is recommending increasing fares by 10 percent effective June 1 to close a $60 million budget deficit.

"Whenever the state finds itself short of funds, instead of cutting back spending, it just digs deeper into our resident's pockets," said Kean. "Eventually, that well is going to run dry. Just take a good look at New Jersey's economic picture. It ain't pretty. Our economic climate is the worst in the entire nation."

Kean, a member of the Assembly Transportation and Public Works Committee, noted an article in yesterday's Asbury Park Press in which a Red Bank councilwoman resigned her position because she said she can no longer afford to live here. She said her taxes, both local and state, have increased at a greater percentage than her income. She is taking her parents and moving to Pennsylvania where she said her property taxes will be half of what she is currently paying.

"That report certainly is an indictment of where this state is and is headed economically," said Kean. "She is just one of many of thousands of our residents who are crossing the river or moving to other states in an effort to find relief from New Jersey's unbearable tax burden and high cost of living."

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For more information, contact:
Assemblyman Sean Kean/732-974-0400
Assembly Republican Office/609-292-5339