12-02-2025
New Jersey lawmaker proposes small town rescue plan
CHESTER, N.J. (PIX11) – From Milltown to Dunellen to Lambertville, small towns are part of the fabric of New Jersey.
One State lawmaker is announcing an effort to help them in a package of separate bills he calls the Small Town Rescue Plan.
Before he was a State Assemblyman, Mike Inganamort was the Mayor of Chester Township in Morris County.
While he was in office, he says a volunteer fire company built a pavilion in a township park, a project that got delayed, he says, when the State stepped in and said the pavilion slightly exceeded its impervious coverage limitation.
'This pavilion behind us was the genesis of this whole small town rescue plan,' said Inganamort (R-NJ 24th District). 'Tremendous amount of red tape. This pavilion took years upon years to put in. It shouldn't have taken that long.'
He's introduced legislation to, he says, ease limitations similar to this. Another bill in his plan would look to bring extra State aid to municipalities under the Energy Tax Receipts Property Tax Relief Act. He's working on the legislation with its first prime sponsor, Assemblywoman Tennille McCoy.
'It's going to directly benefit towns by increasing state aid, which would ultimately allow municipalities to lower property taxes for their residents,' said McCoy (D-NJ 14th District).
Another bill Inganamort is pushing would exempt qualifying small businesses from being taxed on their first $50,000.
'It doesn't matter where the small business is located. The first $50,000 of small business income should be tax-free in the State of New Jersey,' said Inganamort, 'that's a great sure-fire way to incentivize small businesses.'
These bills have been introduced and are awaiting to be scheduled in committee.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
