Hank Kalet

I’m not sure what this means, ultimately, but the governor seems willing to put everything on the table. As I’ve written on more than one occasion, that is exactly what needs to happen. There are too many towns, too many school districts (some without schools), too many fire districts — too many taxing entities.

Will it be easy? No, as State Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) told The Star-Ledger:

“The only problem with putting everything on the table,” said Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex), “is that it would be pretty radical. There would be big winners and big losers, and, believe me, the big losers would not be happy.”

But, the governor seems to know this (also from the Ledger):

The governor said he was prepared to endure the political fallout from opening up the discussion, because the special session presented such a rare chance to affect change.

“I hope we use this opportunity to really go at trying to get a more efficient way, a more productive way, to deliver the fundamental services that people want from government,” Corzine said.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

No one likes taxes. No one.

But, the reality is that if we want government to do things for us, we have to pay government something. The question, ultimately, is what is the fairest and most efficient way to do this.

As the Legislature moves toward tax reform discussions later this summer, we need to keep in mind that we cannot reform state government and taxation in New Jersey without all of us sharing in some of the pain.

1. We can’t lower property taxes without either paying more in some other kind of tax (income would seem the best bet) or giving up some service that we have come to rely upon.
2. We are going to have to give up some local control. Consolidation of towns and school districts must happen — without it, we cannot eradicate duplication of services and the associated costs. (This will not be popular in Cranbury.)
3. Some government workers will have to lose their jobs.
4. Pension reform will probably mean some form of 401k — a defined-contribution plan — and an end to defined benefit plans. I don’t like this, but it is difficult right now to justify not moving in this direction when most taxpayers already work under this kind of pension system.
5. Real campaign finance reform must be enacted and patronage must be ended.

None of this will be greeted with fanfare and applause, but anyone who thinks we can fix things without this kind of stuff is sadly mistaken. It is about to get realy ugly in Trenton.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

I’m not the only one having difficulty finding out about Tom Kean Jr.’s position on Social Security. Here is a post from Talking Points Memo.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

A quick post from a late Monday on vacation:

Read this story and tell me Iraq has not descended into civil war.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

The Record writes that the budget crafted after a long, unnecessary standoff is only the first in what promises to be a series of difficult battles facing Trenton. the statea already faces a structural deficit next year (the Record puts it at $2 bill, though I’ve read higher) and there is a screaming need to change the way we raise and spend money in the state.

The current property tax system is badly flawed and unfair; the sales tax, unless better targeted than our current tax, is regressive; and the income tax can be too dependent on the economy. A mix of all three will needed, with a heavier reliance on income taxes than we currently have, to address our problems.

And we need to change our spending habits. We need a serious discussion about municipal and school district consolidation and the elimination of extraneous levels of government — not just talk about shared services. The reality is that the more boards, commissions and panels we have that can ask for money and spend money, the more they’ll ask for and spend.

We need pension reform, changes in public employee contracts, an end to patronage and pay-to-play — I could go on.

Unless we make changes, every new budget will result in some sort of crisis.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press