Reform minded

David Rebovich‘s latest on the state’s latest attempt at property tax reform is up at PoliticsNJ.com. The gist is this:

1. There never has been a deadline before
2. The governor is challenging politicians of his own party, making it clear that this is a priority and that they will likely face the wrath of the voters if soemthing big does not get done.
3. The governor is targeting the spending side of the problem — calling for efficiencies and consolidations.

He summarizes the governor’s priorities this way:

Corzine’s principles are pretty straightforward. New Jersey relies too much on the regressive property taxes to fund schools and local governments. Spending must be controlled at all levels of government. There are too many layers of government providing similar services. State government’s serious, recurring fiscal problems prevent it from giving more aid to school districts and municipalities. In addition, aid formulas, particularly the school aid formula, is unfair. Given the dramatic increases in property taxes over a twenty-year period – on average over 6 percent annually -, the Governor is calling for comprehensive action now.

Such action needs to provide, Corzine insists, both relief and reform that can be sustained. To accomplish this, the state budget must be secure, meaning that revenue must match spending and that spending must be efficient, effective and justifiable. Residents of many areas in the state can be helped by a change in the school funding formula that focuses on giving aid to serve needy school kids regardless of where they live. Immediate relief can also be provided to individuals and families by adding $350 million of the dedicated portion of the revenue from the new sales tax hike for direct property tax relief and replacing rebate checks with tax credits that will lower people’s actual property tax bills.

The governor offered several reforms:

1. Reform pension and health benefits received by government workers and create a two-tier benefits system of veteran and new employees.
2. Encourage shared services and consolidation among towns and school districts through a $250 million fund created with new sales tax revenue.
3. Reduce debt to free up funds to use for property tax relief. Corzine supports reducing the $2.3 billion in annual debt service — a figure that will increase in the future — by selling, leasing and naming state assets.
4. Modernize the tax system, including allowing municipalities to use other revenue sources like a local sales tax.
5. Create a state comptroller to audit all departments, agencies and programs.
6. Move school budget votes to November.
7. Cap property tax increases at 4 percent.

Rebovich reminds us that there will be significant political opposition, but also says reform is possible if there is bipartisan cooperation and an agreement on a “battle plan.”

The question is, however, not whether legislators will be on board, but whether citizens will be — will they be willing to give some things up to get what they say they want? And will legislators be willing to sell real reform if it carries a hefty bit of pain with it?

I want to be optimistic — the governor’s forcefulness on this seems to demand it — but I have this queazy feeling.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet