by KYW's David Madden

New Jersey governor Jon Corzine is proposing that counties and municipalities be permitted to defer half of their payment into the state pension fund next year as part of a plan to ease the worsening economic crunch.

Under Corzine’s proposal, unveiled at a League of Municipalities meeting in Atlantic City on Thursday, those payments would return to normal over three years and would be higher after that to make up the difference.

It would reduce contributions by a half billion dollars in April, and would require legislative approval.

Camden Mayor Gwendolyn Faison reacts to the idea:

"With all the difficulties facing all the municipalities during this time, any stimulus will help us, even though it’s deferred."

It’s thought the proposal would help to retain local services and perhaps avoid the need to increase already high property taxes. The state is staring down a billion dollar hole in this year’s budget, five billion next, because of projected revenue shortfalls.