‘Wham’-boozled (Plus a podcast)

CJ Radio podcast on the budget can be heard here.

We had a few friends over tonight and the talk turned to the Corzine budget and the NJ101.5 “analysis” — which comes straight from the Republican talking points — of a so-called “double-whammy” that is supposed to cost middle-class taxpayers oodles of cash.

The double-whammy — the loss of property tax rebates for families making more than $75,000 and the one-year elimination of the property tax deduction — is not something that will be easy to swallow. But it’s not the apocalyptic policy that the Republicans are making it out to be.

Consider these statements from Assembly Republicans. Assemblyman Peter Biondi, who represents Hillsborough, Manville and Montgomery, said the budget would “drive more people out of our state.”

Republicans warned that families should hold onto their pocketbooks, and we weren’t surprised by his plan. The average family would lose approximately $1000 by this budget, not counting the impact of reduced municipal aid.

Monmouth County Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon was equally extreme:

“Property taxpayers, who yesterday heard that their property tax bills will skyrocket with cuts to municipal aid, loss of the tax deduction and elimination of rebates, have learned all too well that while the governor speaks, his tax men creep.”

And then there was Alex DeCroce, the Assembly Republican leader:

“For New Jersey taxpayers who are already saddled with the highest property taxes in the nation and are in danger of losing their homes and jobs during the worst recession in generations, Corzine’s budget is the equivalent of a knockout punch. I don’t consider anyone who would do this to families struggling trying to survive a friend of the middle class.”

Now, $1,000 is a lot of cash, but the question is whether it is enough of a hit to recreate the anti-Democrat backlash of the Florio era — especially given that most people have come to understand how bad off the state is fiscally.

That said, as Charles Stile points out in today’s Record, the chances “the Double Whammy will spark the middle-class revolt … or deliver a deadly a political blow” appear somewhat slim:

For one thing, Corzine’s rebate plan is not an across-the-board cut. It would affect about 500,000 tax filers, or 20 percent fewer than in 2008, officials said.

The program has been narrowed over the years, he says, with most of the upper-income voters having lost their rebates a long time ago. At the same time, the plan “preserves rebates for sacrosanct senior voters and his lower-middle-class Democratic base.”

The second part of the whammy — scrapping a provision that lets homeowners write off the first $10,000 of their property taxes — is also not as politically treacherous as it sounds.

Officials said Wednesday that it could cost taxpayers, on average, $219. But tax filers can still take the deduction this year on their 2008 tax returns. That means the loss of the deduction won’t be felt until they or their accountants fill out their taxes in spring 2010, which in Trenton’s political terms, is an eternity.

Does this make the plan a good one or the best one under bad circumstances? It’s too early to tell. Let the debates begin.

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