There is no increase over the 2011 budget.
The budget also reflects the first of the two toll increases that took effect three years ago. Motorists will see the second increase on Jan. 1, when tolls go up 53 percent on the turnpike and 50 percent on the Garden State Parkway.
The tolls department budgeted $53.5 million for 2012 compared with $69.1 million last year. Spending on health care is going up from $67 million last year to $72.3 million in 2012.
Spokesman Thomas Feeney tells The Record newspaper the decreases in the various departments are mostly the result of lower salary and benefits costs.
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Information from: The Record, http://www.northjersey.com
