Gov. Jon Corzine fired a shot across the bow today, warning the Legislature that it must refrain from the kind of fiscal shenanigans that got the state into the kind of mess that forced the shutdown of state services over the summer.
Legislative leaders are talking about an average 20 percent property tax for most homeowners next year, and a new school funding formula that would provide an additional $1 billion in aid to local districts.
Speaking to reporters today, Corzine said “Those need to be financed. … I can see how that can be done. We’re working on the details of that and we will continue to. But reform and sustainability are just as important as tax relief. … Otherwise we’ll end up giving false hope to our citizens.”
That means staying away from one-shot gimmicks and finding real recurring revenue that can pay for state spending for years to come.
There remain serious questions that need to be answered about the various plans likely to be unveiled this week, but the biggest question right now appears to be whether the Legislature has the political will to do anything more than nibble around the edges.
As I’ve written often since the summer, there is a need to streamline local government, reducing the number of taxing agencies without creating new bureaucracies, and there is a need for new kinds of revenues, including a much broader use of the state’s income tax to fund education and other services.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 