Former Superintendent Given $600, 000 Severance Package

Senator Phil Haines (R-8) made the following statement today regarding published reports that Hoboken's former superintendent was given a nearly $600, 000 severance package:

"Today's news reports indicate that the Superintendent of Hoboken received an end of career payout every bit as outrageous as the payout in Keansburg. It is one more reason why Republican's proposal to give Abbott districts an inflationary aid increase instead of up to 26% increases proposed by Governor Corzine and Democrat legislators is more than reasonable.

"It's bewildering that Governor Corzine plans to increase aid to Hoboken by 26% while he is slashing property tax relief, hiking taxes for road construction, and shuttering hospitals. A dramatic aid increase for an Abbott school district that has been exposed for wasteful spending flies in the face of common sense. It's past time for Governor Corzine to take seriously the thoughtful and common sense savings put forth by Republicans.

"More than a month before the budget deadline, Republicans presented $1.3 billion in common sense budget savings to the Governor and Democratic legislative leadership to restore funding for property tax relief, fully fund transportation projects without gas tax or toll increases, and to restore funding for hospitals and other essential service providers. Governor Corzine hastily dismissed the proposal as 'gimmickry.'

"One of the common-sense savings proposals offered by Republicans is to stop reckless increases in aid of up to 26% to a handful of Abbott Districts, and instead, provide those districts with reasonable increases consistent with inflation. In the case of Hoboken, the proposal would save approximately $3, 000, 000 by providing that school system with an inflationary aid increase instead of the 26% increase contained in Governor Corzine's budget."