IS SOUTH JERSEY GETTING ITS FAIR SHARE OF PUBLIC GOODS?

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Mildred Small
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1 IS SOUTH JERSEY GETTING ITS FAIR SHARE OF PUBLIC GOODS? SHAUNA SHAMES ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, POLITICAL SCIENCE SPENCER T. CLAYTON, PH.D. CANDIDATE, PUBLIC AFFAIRS

2 NEW JERSEY COUNTIES BY REGION Source: These categories of NJ counties were taken from the Monmouth University Poll.

3 DEMOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES BY COUNTY North Jersey Counties Central Jersey Counties South Jersey Counties Income: 80 th Percentile $141, 851 $166,805 $117,764* Income: 20 th Percentile $30,047 $36,916 $26,230^ % Black % Hispanic * % SNAP Assistance * % Children in Poverty * % of Counties containing a * large city (containing a city with over 100,000 residents) % Obese * Teen Birth Rate (number of * births per 1000 female population 15-19) % Over Age * % Under Age % Uninsured % College * % Unemployed * Avg. GINI (by county) Violent Crime Rate (per 1000 residents) Source: NJ Data Book and County Health Rankings, * indicates statistically significant difference between South Jersey and non-south-jersey counties ^ Difference is substantive but not statistically significant, likely due to a small sample size because of missing data

4 QUOTES ABOUT SOUTH JERSEY There are two New Jerseys, particularly when it comes to public health. There are the urban hubs, older cities in the north and central Jersey with their mix of poverty and prosperity, often sitting side by side with affluent suburbs. And there are the vast rural stretches, including much of the state s south, with its farming communities and former waterfront factory towns. True, they both face many of the same public health issues But the manner in which they approach these problems can be very different - (Stainton 2016), NJ Spotlight South Jersey is the state s Rodney Dangerfield. The perception of being slighted is part and parcel of South Jersey s identity. On the other hand, regional identity doesn t even seem to be a concern for the rest of the state, which, of course, only further irks South Jerseyans, - Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute (Monmouth 2008).

5 DATA GATHERING AND PREPARATION Data were gathered from several sources including the following: County Health Rankings Robert Wood Johnson Foundation NJ Data Book Center For Legislative Services, Rutgers New Brunswick New Jersey Department of Transportation Integrated Post Secondary Education Data System (IPSEDS) Websites for Individual New Jersey Counties STATA was used to merge disparate data sources.

6 COUNTY-LEVEL BUDGET DATA ACROSS REVENUE CATEGORIES, AVERAGES Total Revenue A. Local Revenue B. State Aid C. State Assumption D. Special Items (#1) E. Special Items (#2) Central Mean 316,694, ,438, ,426, ,131, ,160, ,383,241.2 (Std. Dev) 151,284, ,287, ,615, ,614, ,553, ,010,423.5 North Mean 357,503, ,517, ,807, ,948, ,193, ,480,663.0 (Std. Dev) 210,572, ,226, ,094, ,447, ,501, ,354,871.7 South Mean 206,363, ,115, ,145, ,985, ,878, ,781,618.4 (Std. Dev) 96,643, ,923, ,224, ,780, ,336, ,240,110.1 Source: County Budgets,

7 BELIEFS ABOUT FAIRNESS OF DIVISION OF RESOURCES, BY REGION 60% 50% 40% 30% North Central South 20% 10% 0% All regions get fair share NORTH Jersey gets more SOUTH Jersey gets more Don't Know Source: Based on data from Monmouth Poll 2008

8 STATE AID & STATE ASSUMPTION BY REGION (AVERAGES, IN THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS) State Aid (average) State Assumption (average) Source: County Budgets, North Central South*

9 STATE AID & STATE ASSUMPTION BY COUNTY (AVERAGES, IN THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS) Source: County Budgets,

10 PUBLIC GOODS PROVISION DIFFERENCES BY REGION (COUNTY AVERAGES, ) North Jersey Counties Central Jersey Counties South Jersey Counties Transportation/Infrastructure: Rail Length (in miles) Road Length (in miles) Bus Route Length (in miles) Bus Stops (number) * Workers who Drive Alone (%) * Education: Percent College (%) * Higher Education Seats (avg.) 30,257 37,085 13,962* School Tax Rate (%) H.S. Grad Rate (%) Health/Public Health: Hospital Beds (per 1000 residents) (1566 avg.) (1287 avg,) (827 avg.) Diabetic rate (%) * Medicare Enrollment (%) ACSC Rate (Hospitalization rate for ambulatory-care sensitive conditions per * Medicare enrollees; lower is better) SNAP Beneficiaries (%) * TANF (Children 5-17 receiving temporary assistance for needy families per 1000) * Violent Crime Rate (per 100,000 population) * Source: NJ Data Book and County Health Rankings, * Indicates statistically significant difference between South Jersey and non-south-jersey counties at p<.05 ^ Not all data available for all years. Rail, bus route, and bus stop route data from 2014 used for period.

11 HIGHER EDUCATION SEATS BY COUNTY Source: The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. (IPSEDS) National Center for Education Statistics

12 TANF RATE BY COUNTY Source: NJ Data Book

13 VIOLENT CRIME RATE BY COUNTY Source: County Health Rankings,

14 AVERAGE PER-COUNTY VOTER TURNOUT, BY REGION ( AVERAGES ) 100.0% 80.0% 60.0% 45.9% 49.7% 48.7% 40.0% 20.0% 0.0% Source: NJ Data Book North Central South

15 REGRESSION MODEL RESULTS Model 1: State Model 2: State Model 3: Index Aid as DV Assumption as DV of Public Goods South -4.06* * -1.65* Taxable -2.51e e e-11 property Population 4.2e e-6 6.6e-7 Perc-Min -.28* 1.00* -.90* Turnout Big City 6.81* * -1.0* Constant 13.84* -8.50* 7.41* N R-Sq

The current study builds on previous research to estimate the regional gap in

Summary 1 The current study builds on previous research to estimate the regional gap in state funding assistance between municipalities in South NJ compared to similar municipalities in Central and North