Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 8

A8 Asbury Park Press Thursday, March 30, 1995 Weighing the fees to pay cost of state government iPECIAI From Our NURSERY 799 Plum Sunset, EASY.TO-USt Branched A Weed Cnnimi Fertilizer Insect Control Fertiliser ROSES TULIPS A 6pk wb; Qgg PRIMROSE 6pk 099 Hybrid PANSIES lull bloom pk 891 4 STEP PROGRAM 5,000 SO. FT. PROGRAM wiw supper Grub Stopper Weed StODDer Professional Turf cM7 CONTROLLED RELEASE LAWN FERTILIZER lJthinua lot BuMetMii WISe.FI. 61999 UrTtf 10" 51.99 lan lutani Rebate 5.00 CM To You 46.99 FORSYTHIA oka, Larnpr ito v- -O V.Tfrm9 4Perry. rr JfftCi7 rWJi a wen FLOWERING BRADFORD PEAR 6" PRIVET HEDGE 25 per Bdl 5- BLUE ATLAS CEDAR JAP.

RED MAPLE 5' WBl, Branch. N-GRA ARBORVITAE (Ins.an, 6 -8' WEEPING CHERBV NORWAY SPRUCE FIELD GROWN RHODOnrunnZ oncAREO WHITE PINE 5' LELAND CYPRESS (Fast Grow.no, MIX or MATCH JUNIPER INK or WHITE DOGWnnn spirea lilac Or PINK lIHnun ALBERTA SPRUCPv.V."';V JUMBO MUGNO PIMC EMERALD GREEN ARBORVITAE 3' SILVER MAPLE 7-8' Wei. bLh i a a fin a Lawn Fertilizer 15,000 Srj. Ft 4 STEP program EA. la 10" Ill 39M 79M -eye so la 1 0 TOR 49,,, gg 1 1 1 99' i riQQ a i iti a We Stock 45 Mil Liner All 22 32 Mil Liner 20o OFF Little Giant 5 MSPWG 1250 gal.

OQ99 nvy. iw.w Smie rir5' 130 gals. Prc-fonrwd Devon Pond Pfw-fontwd 2'8- Sonwrset Pond DU gaiS. Reg 98 98 099 3 olfcP a flat ORTUn OWL 'N' SPRAY "eg. 14.99 199 GREENVIEW 1 "ntEN 2500 SO FT 20 99 16" COMPOST BIN by Bard fcSPOMa I norun H0LLYT0NE V0LK 0L The weights and measures fees were part of a broad-ranging $74 million bill that also raised charges for getting a vanity license plate or a duplicate license, requesting a criminal background check on a prospective employee, or accessing an electronic system that confirms whether someone is covered by Medicaid.

The bill was approved by the Assembly on the same day last June as a $325 million income tax reduction. Lawmakers and the administration said at the time that many of the fees had not been raised in years, or that the cost of a new service should be borne by those who use it. Wikoff was unswayed, however. "I just laugh at the fact (Whitman is) going out and saying she's lowering taxes," he said as he looked at paperwork from Weights and Measures and the bottom line of $520 due. "I guess they don't want to call it a tax.

It's a fee, but to me, what's the difference? "I feel they should have some kind of cap. For the very small businessman, $520 is a lot," Wikoff said. In that sense, the Fred D. Wikoff Co. is a victim of its own diversity.

Lobbyists for supermarkets were able to get a cap in the fee bill of $200 per store for scales weighing under 1,000 pounds. In many stores, there's a scale at every checkout lane, and, at $20 a scale, the fees would have been enormous. "Our members knew about it; we were really involved early on with the legislation," said James Morford, president of the New Jersey Food Council, the supermarkets' trade group. He noted that, to the extent competition allows for it, stores will likely pass the cost of the new fee on to consumers through higher prices. If David Wikoff was still dealing in just feed and grain, as his great-grandfather, Fred was when he founded the business 98 years ago, then he'd have only the kind of scales that qualify for the $200 cap too.

But the company now sells fuel oil, coal, diesel fuel and propane as well as enough varieties of animal food to supply Noah. That means lots of measuring devices. There's a vehicle scale for weighing coal deliveries (fee: $200), LXUl Make Your POND INSTALLATION STht Expwtt at Brvckw DORMANT OIL QT. Reg 969 PT Ran ft AO AW 1 59 99 Eagle Garden Spade DH 799 Round LH 499 Largest Selection of AQUATIC PLANTS ANYWHERE EaioB MES SHOVELS 3 LB. TETRA KOI Wheat Germ Stix For Feeding Nowl 29 99 Beckett BF 350 Bio Filter Filters up to 350 includes pump CP' OQ99 a ivuiiu Point OH Eagle .99 4 Kentucky Blue Grass reg.

1.99 lb. 51.69 lb. All 2 Cu. Cement TABLE JintQQ sets iaS53 includes 3 Limecrest GRANULAR LIME 40 Point New Ft. Allaire II K-31 Perennial Rye Grass Tall Fescue reg.

lb. reg. 1 .29 lb. s99'ib Eucalyptus Mulch 199 Bag 89 SOIL 19 '40 lbs' TOP 1881 POTTING SOIL 40 IAMS MINI-CHUNKS OR CHUNKS We Now Stock IAMS a Eukanuba Pat Foods Ksl-Kan S.5 oz. CAT FOOD Pro Plan Adult DOG FOOD 40 lb.

4 for 99 99 DOG FOOD 40 lbs. 2694 Eukanuba Original DOG FOOD 40 lb. Purina 40 lb. DOG FOOD 3239 $949 1 lbs. 1 BROCK'S PRICE POLICY We Guarantee we will not be undersold.

Brock will match any Current-Newspaper advertised price on brand name items. Simply present the AD to the cashier prior to purchase. Items must be of equal size and quality FREEHOLD ROUTE 9 NORTH 462-2700 COLTS NECK ROUTE 34 NORTH 462-0900 Ml. No. of Delicious Orchard) 9 AM to 7 PM SUNDAY 9 AM TO 6 PM Not responsible for typographical errors.

We reserve the right to limit quantities. Sale prices effective thru 4595. I I I lRH From page Al them up. The state takeover of county courts was partly funded by higher charges for filing lawsuits. Funds to support domestic violence shelters were provided through a surcharge on marriage licenses.

A $1 add-on to auto registrations funded emergency medical evacuation helicopters. To pay for future highway construction, Gov. Whitman wants to permanently extend surcharges' of $15 to $40 on automobile registrations. A bill moving through the Legislature would set up a fund to buy police cars by tacking a $5 surcharge onto fines for moving violations like speeding. The state also would like to see the philosophy at other levels of government.

An audit team that looked at the finances in Ventnor, a seaside community in Atlantic County, criticized the city for not charging high enough fees for beach tags. There's no total dollar figure for all of the fees enacted in recent years, because they're spread among dozens of pieces of legislation and state accounts, many of which don't appear in the state budget and therefore don't show up ur the bottom line as spending. The trend has allowed legis lators and Whitman to avoid the "t- word" tax and honestly report they've lowered government spending without reducing services. Indeed, a legislator who wants to expand a state service today is often pressed to find the revenue to pay for it. When a 10-year-old girl fell down a well in Colts Neck Township in Janu ary, highlighting the lack ot hinds available to deal with dangerous abandoned wells, Senate Majority Leader John 0.

Bennett responded with pas sage of a bill, funded by new fees on well drilling and inspections. This movement continues even as the Department of Environmental Protection, which has for years been supported by permit fees and fines collected through a "let the polluter pay" philosophy, is being required by Whitman to move its programs and revenues onto the budget, where workers would be subject to state layoffs. Whitman spokesman Carl Golden said the governor objected to the size of the DEP's off-budget operation, with 80 percent of its 4,000 employees paid for with fees or penalties. "The governor felt that was out of balance and there should be on-budget support for it, Golden said. Freed From page Al Baker, 24, of Kent Road in Manches ter, was sentenced in 1990 to seven years in prison for possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.

He was released on parole Sept. 21, 1993. About six months later, on March 16, 1994, Baker was arrested along with two juveniles after a botched robbery in which the victim, Isaac E. ones of Lakewood, was shot and crit ically wounded. Jones later recovered.

After his arrest, Baker was re turned to the prison in Chesterfield Township as a parole violator while his armed robbery case awaited action in Ocean County courts. On Dec. 15, a Superior Court jury in Toms River convicted Baker of being the getaway driver for the planned armed robbery. Baker in sisted he was innocent and that a co- defendant lied on the witness stand. 'It's painful being in jail for some thing you didn't do," he said at his sentencing hearing last month.

Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso sentenced Baker to 50 years in state prison with the stipulation that he serve at least 16 years before being eligible for parole. The judge imposed the extended sentence because Baker had been convicted of a second offense involving a firearm. Despite the second conviction and sentencing, officials at the prison in Chesterfield Township apparently be lieved that Baker continued to be there simply as a parole violator filling out his original 1990 sentence. When that sentence ended Saturday, he was released.

"Without any indication from the county to the state, there was no document to keep him at Garden State (prison) after his parole violation term expired on March 25," Mulcahy wrote in a news release. I I I I I I 1 1-81 1 Benches ColorsavanaDie Cement BIRD BATHS 19 99 Colors available BL LI Jills Does not apply to poor purchases. OPEN I -J, I 1 it uun; iuci (jumps iui uicaci pw, three scales for weighing feed and propane tanks and five oil trucks "I'm not getting anything extra from Weights and Measures for this, Wikoff said, once a year." 'They still only come i Without any indication from the county to the state, there was no document to keep him at Garden State (prison) after his parole violation term expired on March 25. Patricia Mulcahy CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN bhe said corrections officials did not learn of the error until Tuesday, when the Ocean County prosecutor's office called the prison to inquire about Baker. It was only then, she said, that the prison received via fax a copy of the judgment of conviction.

Baker left the prison with $180 and wearing clothing that family members had dropped off for him about a week earlier, Mulcahy said. It was unclear yesterday whether that indicates Baker knew days in advance that he was about to be released. A man who answered the telephone at Baker's home in Manchester yes- terday afternoon said the family had no comment. An associate administrator at the Garden State prison signed a warrant yesterday for Baker's arrest. The county prosecutor's office released asked that anyone with information on his whereabouts contact the prosecutor's office, state police or any local police department.

Baker has young children, his mnfhpr tnlH IltHrw fraccn rlnrinrr hie sentencing last month, althoueh she did not say how many. Baker's vouncer brother. Scott, is MILS m-s-. nil: w-. (rillio: SAVE 20 to 60 OFF ORIGINAL RETAIL PRICES WHEN YOU TAKE ADDITIONAL SAVINGS OFF OUR ALREADY LOW OUTLET STORE PRICES.

TAKE AN ADDITIONAL TAKE AN ADDITIONAL 15 to 40 OFF 10 to 30 OFF ALL ELECTRIC RANGES ALL WASHERS ALL GAS RANGES ALL DRYERS 249M to $699" ALL REFRIGERATORS Available in Almond, While, Black TAKE AN ADDITIONAL I TAKE AN ADDITIONAL I TAKE AN ADDITIONAL 35 OFF 40 OFF 20 to 35 OFF DINETTE CHAIRS ALL SOFAS DINING ROOM HEADBOARDS ALL IN ONE WASHER TABLES DRYER COMBINATIONS HOURS: 1 0 AM-8 PM Fit, Sat.10AM-9PM oun.12Alv1-5PM Sears. Roebuck Co. 1993 Movv imocv wvys to towy SaSAfB (908) 206-0620 135 Van Zlle Brick, NJ (Located In the former Channel Plaza) INI RT.7Q due to go on trial in September, ac- cused of fatally stabbing an elderly Brick Township woman. He is charged with murdering Be- atrice Baskin and stealing $50,000 to $75,000 from her. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

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