Next NJ Battle? Property Taxes
From the Star Ledger:
Trenton puts off property tax reform
BY DEBORAH HOWLETT
Just two days after the long battle over the state budget ended, Gov. Jon Corzine and legislative leaders yesterday agreed to wait until the end of the month to start what might turn out to be an even more acrimonious fight: finding ways to reduce property taxes.
The governor plans to address lawmakers in joint session July 28, or soon after, to kick off a special legislative session aimed at cutting New Jersey property taxes, which are the highest in the nation.
"Property tax reform has consistently and repeatedly been at the top of the public agenda. The governor is looking forward to addressing the Legislature on this issue," Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said.
The start of the special session has been timed to coincide with voting sessions by lawmakers to place a referendum on the November ballot asking voters to dedicate half of the budget's sales tax increase to property tax relief. The sales tax will rise to 7 percent from 6 percent Saturday.
...
New Jersey property taxes have soared 29 percent over the past four years, but finding ways to reduce them has eluded lawmakers for decades.
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The committees will hold two months of hearings with a goal of producing a package of bills that the full Legislature can consider before the end of the year, said Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex).
The timeline isn't quick enough for Republicans.
Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) said delaying a recommendation on a citizens' tax convention until after August guarantees it won't get onto the ballot until November 2007. Any citizens' convention wouldn't happen until 2008, he said, and the convention's reforms would not likely be implemented before 2009.
9 Comments:
pathetic, no relief in site for
home owners.
NJ highest in the Nation.
Unless these 2 things happens - all they are doing is to take from Peter to pay Paul.
The 2 things that need to happen to bring property taxes under control are:
1) Force regionalization of Emergency Services & Educational Services. Force merging of municipalities - unless you are over 100K people, the town is disbanded and county takes over - unless you merge with other towns. If a County has all merge municipalities of over 100K people -County Gov't is disbanded.
2) Stop double dipping. You can not be a Mayor & Freeholder, or assemblyman. You are either a Mayor or an Assemblyman.
More like 55% increase for me. Went from $5900 in 2002 to $9200 in 2006.
The joy of living in cliffside park
To anon 9:14:
In counties like Bergen, turning over municipal services to the corrupt county commissioner's office is a sure-fire way to increase future expense obligations through patronage jobs and no-bid contracts.
Hell, in Leonia, a county judge's felon son was made a police officer through an eleventh-hour appointment by the outgoing mayor, Paul Kauffman, a RE developer with ties to the Bergen Co Democratic party. (Kauffman so loved Leonia that he moved to Englewood within months after the conclusion of his single term as mayor.) Kauffman's successor leaked news of this dirty bit of biz. End result: the boro paid tens of thousands in legal fees. So, with the county in charge of things for smaller municipalities, the choice may come down to either accepting convicted criminals as on our police forces (and god knows what else), or paying through the nose to keep the county's fingers out of every pie.
Neither potential outcome seems particularly palatable.
Please cite the last time a politican in NJ lowered the tax for anything. Why does the rest of the state have to live within their means, but the govt does not?
If you want relief, go rent a uHaul and fill it up with your stuff and don't stop until you cross the Delaware River...maybe keep going until you cross the Mississippi river... and don't look back.
Building on Anon 9:14's comment, if property taxes are locally determined, and so many NJ municipalities refuse to regionalize their public and administrative services, then why should state government even be concerned about high property taxes?
I would support giving this kind of relief to residents of municipalities who elect to regionalize services, that is, to communities who elect to make some sacrifices in an attempt to lower their own property taxes. Why should we care about lowering property taxes of communities whose residents refuse to take action to lower them for themselves?
I resent the sales tax being raised on everyone for the purpose of giving tax relief to a select group of people (property owners).
I think I will avoid purchasing anything taxable in the state of NJ going forward.
Anon 3:17, I don't know which politician(s) was/were involved, but when I moved to NJ in 1989, I believe that the sales tax was 7% then. Shortly after I moved here and I can't remember if it was late in the Florio or early in the first Whitman administrations when the sales tax was lowered to 6% and the 3% Urban enterprise zones were created.
Anyone else remember more details on this?
Anonymous said...
Anon 5:39pm said "If you want relief, go rent a uHaul and fill it up with your stuff and don't stop until you cross the Delaware River...maybe keep going until you cross the Mississippi river... and don't look back."
Sad but true...I would like to add and be on the lookout for upstart Socialists disguised as Democrats in your new locale, cause thats who's at the helm in NJ.
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