A 1979 law changed that procedure, ceding authority for collection to the state, which, in turn, sent the money back to the municipalities in the form of aid known as Energy Tax Receipts Property Tax Relief Fund.

The problem, according to various mayors, including Janice Mironov of East Windsor and John Bencivengo of Hamilton, is that the state is keeping too much of the revenue it collects. What should be returned to the municipalities as tax relief is instead helping the state to plug holes in its budget.

That problem was exacerbated in 2010, the mayors and the New Jersey League of Municipalities say, when the state withheld an even larger share of the energy taxes. As The Times’ Erin Duffy reported last week, Hopewell Township, Princeton Township and West Windsor saw their share of the cut reduced by 22 percent. Hamilton lost almost $5 million and East Windsor nearly $1 million.

The towns’ payments did not rise last year. It’s a situation the League of Municipalities understood was due to the fiscal problems Christie inherited. That time of tolerance is over.

“Now, we must draw a line in the sand. Faced with unprecedented fiscal challenges and new stringent budget caps, we cannot carry the state any longer,” says a league position paper.

Rarely, if ever, does a co-opted cash cow return to its rightful pasture. Nevertheless, we urge the state to do the right thing and restore the rightful funding levels. That formula must rely not on political whim and the largesse of the state, but on the amount of a municipality’s property that is given over to utilities.

It is only fair that the towns struggling with this burden receive fair compensation. In turn, municipalities receiving the appropriate amount of energy tax revenue from the state should be obligated to apply those funds to relieving the property taxes.

Gov. Christie is a fan of straight talk, so we urge him to address this issue candidly. The much-touted property tax-relief “tool kits” he has provided to municipalties seem to be a hammer and several nails short.