The 20 percent solution

The state — i.e., the leaders of both legislative houses and the governor — appear ready to unveil a property tax cut of 20 percent as the first of what should be a series of reforms designed to fix the state’s broken tax system.

Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts and Senate President Richard Codey described it as a down payment with more to come. My sense is that the down payment is necessary, but that it has to be part of a larger package of reforms that must include a greater use of income taxes, some other alternative taxes, streamlined government and a reduction in the number of municipalities and school districts, an elected state comptroller, among others.

Some of this is expected to be a part of the Legislative package but, as they say, the devil is in the details and we are without those details at the moment.

Another major piece, however, is out of the Legislature’s hands — increased federal aid to urban schools and urban housing, aid that could allow the state to shift its resources elsewhere.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

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