Ocean County Getting Robbed

A last-minute "adjustment" in a state funding formula robbed Ocean County of nearly $870,000 in federal stimulus money. Instead, the money was forwarded to the state's cities. "Once again, the cities gain and Ocean County loses," said Freeholder Deputy Director Gerry P. Little. Thanks to Trenton lawmakers, federal money that was supposed to come to Ocean County, money that we were told was coming to the county to help young people find jobs, was whisked away to the cities." A $939,123 grant to the county's Workforce Investment Board for youth job creation was cut to $342,362. Money for the adult portion of WIB was also cut, from $463,147 to $192,062. According to Little, the amount of stimulus money coming to Ocean County and other suburban areas of the Garden State did not sit too well with powerful lawmakers from some of the state's cities. The result? The funding formula used by Trenton to allocate the federal dollars was changed at the last moment, sending more money to urban areas. Read full article from Jackson Times here.