Trenton Bureau

New Jersey voters once again agreed to borrow money, this time to spend $500 million on cleaning water supplies, improving school security and boosting vocational schools.

Since 2007, New Jersey voters have approved four statewide bond measures and rejected one, a $450 million issue for stem-cell and other biomedical research that got 47 percent of the vote in November 2007.

On Tuesday, the measure passed with just over 52 percent of the vote.

Once the borrowing begins, it would add to New Jersey's heavy debt load and to a booming yearly interest bill that eats a growing portion of the state budget, diverting tax money that could be spent on direct services and programs. This year that tab was $4 billion, more than 10 percent of total state spending.

New Jersey's total debt of more than $46 billion puts it near the top of most indebted states, and that amount had grown by 7.6 percent from the year before.

The $500 million voters agreed to borrow does not include interest costs. The ballot measure does not automatically raise state taxes, but it contains a provision that would boost property taxes if the state is unable to afford its debt payments.

The call to borrow more had broad support from lawmakers of both parties and was boosted by civic groups as well as business organizations including the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. They say it would create new opportunities for young people.

The largest share of the bond proceeds, $350 million, is planned to be spent on grants for career and technical education in K-12 schools and security improvements. Another $100 million would go toward school water projects, and $50 million would be designated for college career and technical education grants.

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Officials from the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools had said existing schools can't meet the demand for career education for young people seeking alternatives to college. Last year, county vocational-technical schools had to turn away almost 17,000 applicants due to a lack of space, according to the council.

The $500 million bond measure is the largest amount of debt approved by New Jersey voters since 2012. Even so, the amount is just half of what lawmakers approved before Gov. Phil Murphy issued a conditional veto of their bill in August. In his veto message, the Democratic governor noted that interest and other debt-service costs could eclipse $2 billion on the $1 billion in principal.

"This came to me, it was a billion-dollar bill and I cut it in half to $500 million. That was my way of saying we got to be careful on our indebtedness and we do, but the use of proceeds is pretty important," Murphy said Wednesday at an event discussing election results. "Vocational-technical schools, and that’s right in the sweet spot of the innovation economy that we aspire to be a leader in. Secondly, school safety and the world we live in, we can’t ignore that. Thirdly, dealing with lead in the water in schools. Those are three very important uses.”