Christie talks about budget in Haddon Heights

 "I came back here in part because I started here," said Christie, who kicked off his gubernatorial campaign in Haddon Heights last year. 

Speaking to local elected officials and municial leaders who gathered at the Haddon Heights Cabin on Tuesday morning, Christie talked about New Jersey's $11 billion budget deficit  and highlighted the town's effort to lower property taxes and break its dependency on state aid as a model for municipalities likely to face steep cuts when he delivers his first budget address in a week.

"This is going to be a budget that is unlike any budget you've seen in the past 20 years," Christie said. Christie said he will give municipalities and school boards the tools to cut spending and stave off tax hikes, but declined to say what those tools were. 

Haddon Heights Mayor Scott Alexander said residents there had an 8 percent tax hike in 2007, the year before he took office, and a $500,000 budget gap. "My approach was to look at it like a business," Alexander said. Alexander said he performed an "operational analysis... with an eye toward cutting costs."

The borough has since restructured its public works department and lowered taxes. "We got rid of extraordinary aid the first year we got in," Alexander said. Haddon Heights has also invested in Project Garnet, which Alexander said could generate $13 million in ratables. 

As part of the project, the borough purchased two buildings at West Atlantic Avenue and Lippincott Lane. One building will house the public works, construction and zoning departments while the other will hold a community center. The borough also refurbished the cabin, where Christie spoke, which residents can rent for $25 per hour. 

Most of the ratables would come from the eventual redevelopment of seven acres surrounding the current public works department.

Haddon Heights is in Camden County and borders Barrington and Haddonfield.