We now officially have two budget plans on the table in New Jersey. Unfortunately, neither plan accepts the state’s fiscal and economic realities.
On the one side, we have the budget proposed by the governor, which continues with his goal of making life easier for those with money. The centerpiece of his plan is a 10 percent income tax cut that would help most those with the most.
On the other side, we have a nominally better Democratic plan that adds a small amount to programs for those in need and includes its own tax cut — a property tax credit that is likely to help those in the middle.
On both sides, however, we have a willful refusal to abide by the basics of smart budgeting.
Despite their wariness over Christie’s revenue figures, the Democrats’ budget would spend nearly all of the money the governor expects to come in, and they are relying on those estimates rather than cutting spending based on the less optimistic OLS forecast.
“It’s hypocritical,” state Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R-Essex) said. “They criticize the revenue estimates, then use them to build a budget.”
Senate Democrats also said they could produce $140 million in new savings, but restless Republicans questioned Sarlo when he said the money would come from more aggressive debt collections at the state Treasury and adjustments to several accounts that never spend their allotted money.
What do I mean by smart budgeting? As anyone who has dealt with their own budgets knows, you never use the most optimistic revenue forecasts. You always assume the worst. If revenue then comes in at the higher level, you have a surplus. If you shoot high and the numbers come in low, you have a shortfall and have to scramble — which is what we’ve been doing the last couple of years.
New Jersey residents deserve a more honest approach to the budget — and not the false bravado and pseudo-straighttalk we get from Christie or the Democrats.
Hank Kalet 