protect vineland taxpayers

Tell your City Council Members that you are opposed to the 'BROADBAND BOONDOGGLE'

Vineland residents are already struggling with increasing property taxes, continued inflation, and the high cost of living in New Jersey. Our leaders need to get their priorities straight. Focus on fixing Vineland’s failing schools and rising crime.

The last thing this city needs is a “network to nowhere” boondoggle.

At the public meeting on Tuesday, Feb 27, Vineland City Council will vote on a measure to establish a Broadband Utility Service. This is the first step toward building an unnecessary city-owned fiber network, which could cost upwards of $60 million. To put that in perspective, Vineland’s entire city budget last year was $83 million!



The city claims that it will seek grants to offset the cost. But it’s not clear which grants, if any, the city could qualify for. Regardless, it’s taxpayers who will bear the cost of maintaining and upgrading the network. And let’s be honest: government projects inevitably over promise, underdeliver, and go over budget—like that extra $5 million for replacing Vineland’s fire house.

Maybe that’s why the city has been hiding the ball from taxpayers, rejecting public records requests from Jersey 1st and other watchdogs. What are they hiding? We’ve had enough backroom dealing. City residents deserve transparency and Mayor Fanucci and the city council must be honest about the risk to taxpayers.

Here's the facts. According to a study by the University of Pennsylvania, city-owned fiber networks have a 90% financial failure rate. Let’s make sure Vineland doesn’t become another statistic.