Corzine's Property Tax Proposals

From Bloomberg:

New Jersey's Corzine Offers Proposals to Lower Property Taxes

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine proposed asset sales, debt reduction and changes to the public- employee pension system as part of a plan to raise money to reduce the state's property taxes, the highest in the nation.

Corzine also proposed the creation of an appointed state comptroller to audit the finances of New Jersey agencies, and a 4 percent cap on increases in property-tax bills. Property taxes now account for almost half the taxes collected in the state, compared to a national average of about 30 percent.
...
Corzine said he plans to have technology in place by July 2007 that would allow the state's treasury office to replace rebate checks with direct credits on property-tax bills. The governor proposed using $350 million of the dedicated sales-tax revenue for these credits. When combined with existing state funding for rebates, the tax credit program would be more than $1.6 billion, he said in his speech.
...
One area of reform, Corzine said, will address pension and benefits for public employees. The state has an $18 billion deficit in state-run pension funds for teachers and other public employees, after lawmakers deferred contributions to eliminate budget shortfalls.

Corzine said his administration will be prepared as early as the middle of September to begin negotiations with state employee unions, whose contracts expire next July 1. Topics of negotiations will include raising the minimum retirement age and requiring public employees to pay part of their medical expenses, Corzine said.
...
Another element of Corzine's reform plan calls for reducing the state's more than $30 billion debt burden, the governor said. New Jersey has $2.3 billion in debt service this year, money that could be put to better use elsewhere, Corzine said. That figure will expand by more than 25 percent in just four years, he said.
...
Corzine said he has directed his administration over the next three months to prepare a list of assets that could be leased or sold, to raise money for debt reduction. He didn't say what assets could be up for sale or lease, though he has said in recent months that he wouldn't rule out a leasing of the New Jersey Turnpike or other state toll roads.
...
New Jersey's debt has more than tripled in the past decade, to $30 billion in fiscal 2006 from $8.1 billion in 1996. The state has a credit rating of AA, the third-highest investment grade, from Standard & Poor's, and Aa3, the fourth-highest rank, from Moody's Investors Service.