constitional convention

Dispatches: Budget gimmicks galore

Politics, as it always does, poisons discussion of state finances. Read Dispatches.

Sinking ships

I wrote yesterday about the governor’s announcement that he plans to move forward with his monetization plan, even if it means driving smack into the brick wall of public opinion.

“I’m willing to lose my job if that’s necessary to set our fiscal house in order.”

But, as The Asbury Park Press (an editorial page that I often disagree with) points out, the plan really is nothing more than another gimmick,

borrowing today what will have to be paid back tomorrow through taxes or tolls. It’s another quick fix that will bring an influx of cash that will be quickly frittered away, saddling either the commuters of New Jersey or the next generation of taxpayers with an even heavier financial burden.

The governor is right about the state’s finances and, as he has said over and over, the fiscal condition in the state makes it difficult to do the kinds of things that will make the lives of the people living here better. But gimmicks are the wrong way to address the issue.

The Press says the governor should try a different tack:

Corzine may have faith in his ideas to wring billions of dollars out of the state’s toll roads to cut the state’s borrowing debt in half and provide permanent funding for transportation projects. We don’t. Neither do many of the state’s residents, especially the commuters who would unfairly shoulder the burden of Corzine’s plan with the dramatic increase in tolls.

Corzine should instead insist that the Legislature get to work doing what most households have been forced to do in the face of skyrocketing property taxes over the past several years: Cut spending. He should make the state do what New Jersey families have done as a horde of new taxes and fees has driven their cost of living steadily higher: Eliminate waste and cut out “extras.”

This would be a good start, but it will not be enough. The state needs to completely reform its way of doing business — including streamlining government at all levels and reducing the number of towns and school districts.

New Jersey residents, as well, will have to reconsider what they believe is important. To right the fiscal ship while also cutting property taxes, New Jersey residents will have to sacrifice some things. I can’t say what — that will have to be up to those affected. That’s why we need to convene a constitutional convention that brings nonpolitical representatives together to hash these questions out.

The politicians have had their opportunities and failed miserably. It’s time to give someone else a try.

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

E-mail me by clicking here.

Convention time in New Jersey

The governor wants his administration to find $3 billion in spending cuts before heading into next year’s budget discussions — $3 billion cuts in a budget of about $32 billion, or nearly 10 percent.

That’s a deep slashing on the spending side that will affect services. The questions are what services and are we willing to settle for service cuts?

The suspicion here is that the announcement is nothing more than a precursor for a more fevered fight on his part to get his asset monetization plan through — sell or lease state assets, take the proceeds and pay down the debt. That maybe where the governor is headed, but it would be foolish on our part to follow. Monetization is just another budget gimmick in a state with a history of budget gimmicks.

But we have to be honest, as well — something rare among state and local government officials — that state finances cannot be addressed in one budget with cuts, tax hikes or gimmicks and that the financial crisis in New Jersey is about more than just the state. Local governments are sinking under the weight of property tax increases that have locals angry and many moving out.

Real reform is what is needed: consolidation of municipalities and school boards, the elimination of small taxing districts (fire, garbage), strict rules governing the borrowing of money by the state, a new funding approach for schools, a complete reconfiguration of state taxes (income taxes, anyone?).

The Legislature, of course, does not have the stomach for any of this. So it will be up to the citizenry to identify what is important — what services they believe are needed, how municipalities should be structured, etc.

It is time for a constitutional convention. I just don’t see any other way.

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

E-mail me by clicking here.