So I guess NJ is taking it on the chin as hard as Snooki did in the last episode of Jersey Shore. Yes, I’ve started watching that show. I don’t have cable, so blame LoLo. Anyway, across the state of New Jersey, they’re firing state workers and raising property taxes as state aid falls and munis get downgraded:

Bond ratings of New Jersey towns and cities are being reduced faster than in any other state as property values slide 11 percent and Governor Jon Corzine lowers municipal aid to cope with a $1 billion budget deficit.

Moody’s Investors Service cut ratings on $592 million in general obligation debt issued by 14 municipalities since October, about four times the rate for neighboring New York, the second-most indebted state, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. New Jersey’s per-capita personal income of $51,358 last year was exceeded only by Connecticut, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

That stinks. No, literally, it stinks:

In Clifton, a suburb 11 miles (18 kilometers) west of New York, finances suffered in fiscal 2008 from the state property- tax cap, rising employee costs, a $536,000 drop in investment income and property-tax collections that were $263,000 below projections, according to Moody’s. The company last month lowered to A2 from A1 its rating on $50 million of the municipality’s debt.

The city may fire workers and reduce nearly all core services, including trash and park operations, City Manager Al Greco said in an interview. Clifton lost $2.5 million in state aid this year to help fund a $115 million budget, Greco said.

So what I’m getting from this is that with reduced aid from the state, falling property values, rampant unemployment… the only hope for New Jersey’s cities is to attract more private investment, e.g., film crews for shows like Jersey Shore. May the good Lord help you all.