reform – Page 5 – Hank Kalet

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.

Election, Part IV: countdown to reform

There is a good post on Blue Jersey about how Tuesday’s status quo election may offer the Democrats a two-year window to get reform done and that, should they left it close, they are likely to find themselves feeling the wrath of voters.

Here is the response I offered:

I am in complete agreement with Mr. Rudy that the time has passed for reform to take place. Property taxes are too high, there are too many layers of government in this state and too many people with too many hands in too many tills.

But I am less optimistic that the voters want reform. My suspicion, from covering elections over the years and writing about local and state government, is that voters know their is a problem and want it fixed, but that they want it fixed without there being any pain — or at least no pain for them.

So suburban voters are ready to toss the urban school kids overboard and residents of towns who are unlikely to face consolidation want to see consolidation happen elsewhere.

Consider Jamesburg, which has almost no tax base and nearly had to close its library this year. Jamesburg should merge with Monroe — it is the donought hole to Monroe’s donought — but its elected officials are vehemently opposed to consolidation, as are Monroe’s. I understand this from a purely parochial point of view — no one wants to put themselves out of a job — but it is an example of the difficulties that consolidating municipalties will face. That’s why I was chagrined to find that the consolidation commission that was created earlier this year was defanged before it ever came into being (originally, towns would have been forced to merge after a vote of the Legislature).

There is a need for progressives to craft a bold plan for reform — municipal and school consolidation, a general reduction in the number of taxing districts (there are about 1,400 in the state right now), a realignment of the counties (elimination??), a new school-funding formula, an increased reliance on income taxes (this would not only reduce property taxes but change the warped, tax-chasing incentives that drive our land-use decisions), etc.

Much of this may not be popular — as I said, New Jerseyans tend to want others to pay for their reforms — and it could lead to some volatility. I would argue — as Mr. Rudy does — that the volatility already is there.

We’ve wasted too much time spinning our wheels. Let’s get the reform
train moving forward.

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

E-mail me by clicking here.

Now it’s the governor’s turn

Two of the lawmakers who were charged last week in a major statewide sting have announced their resignations. That’s good news, I guess.

Better news would be a major push by Gov. Jon Corzine, state Sen. President Richard Codey and Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts to strengthen the weak ethics reforms they agreed to and that the governor signed last week.

The governor made a mistake when he signed the package of bills. He should have conditionally vetoed the grandfather clause and demanded that the Legislature bring him a full and immediate ban instead. He should have forced legislators to take a position on the issue — either they could have tried to override his veto or the grandfather clause would have died. Either way we would know where everyone stands on it.

I like Corzine generally, but he was elected to clean up Trenton and has instead opted to play the same games that have been played for too long in the state capital. It is time for the governor to step up and use the power of the governor’s office and stop playing around.

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

E-mail me by clicking here.

Another reason for merging towns

The Record hits on something interesting in its editorial yesterday on the statewide corruption arrests — that this was not just a case of pay-to-play run amok, or of a handful of bad apples, but one that grows from the very structure of New Jersey government — the vast array of governing entities and the dozens of officials at all levels who hold multiple public jobs:

This case is a vivid illustration of the multiplied corruption opportunities presented by New Jersey’s surplus of municipalities, school boards and other public agencies, as well as the politicians who link them together by holding more than one public job.

Add in greed and what you have is the uglier side of New Jersey government.

I’ve been advocating for shrinking the number of towns and school boards and streamlining government, and it appears that this case offers another reason why we must forgo our romantic attachments to place names and realize that there are more efficient and effective ways to organize this state.

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

E-mail me by clicking here.