Rural N.J. towns won't have to pay for state police

The small towns in New Jersey that use state police for all or part of their law enforcement will not have to pay the state for the service, under a ruling today from the state Council on Local Mandates. The council, which handles complaints from local officials about state fees, voided the section of the state budget that calls for the payments from the 89 towns, reports Lisa Ryan of the statehouse bureau of Gannett Newspapers.

Gov. Jon Corzine had persuaded the legislature that "It was time for rural towns to help pay the cost because of the state's financial situation and because taxpayers in municipalities with their own police departments shouldn't have to fund police services in rural communities as well," Ryan reports. The state has funded the service for 87 years. This year it is estimated to cost $12.6 million. (Read more)