Menendez got a half dozen mayors from across New Jersey on a conference call to discuss how they’re dealing with things right now. Cherry Hill’s Susan Shinn-Angulo just transitioned to her post after a stint on the Camden County freeholder board.
“Some of our neighborhood businesses will struggle to pay their bills including property taxes and may have to close their doors altogether,” she said. “We are very concerned about the drop in our commercial tax base which is the backbone of our economy.”
10 percent of the municipal workforce has been furloughed and she and her council members have taken pay cuts.
In Atlantic County, Galloway Township Mayor Jim Gorman is worried of a repeat of the Great Recession of 2008 when 20 cops had to be laid off.
“Our businesses are taking a hit because half of our residents work in the casinos,” he added. “We also lost the students at Stockton College that support our local economy.”
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They’ve halted hiring and purchasing as a stop gap.
But all the mayors are worried about the long term, which is why they insist they need any help the feds can send and the sooner the better.