Property Tax Watch

From the Star Ledger:
More aid is needed for building of schools

New Jersey's school construction program needs an infusion of $3.25 billion to address a backlog of projects built up over the past two years during an overhaul of the program, a task force analyzing the school building program told Gov. Jon Corzine yesterday.
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Lawmakers did not embrace the call for new funding.

"The first problem we have to face is changing the inflating cost of property taxes," said Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) "After that, we can focus in on this."

From the Jersey Journal:
Budget is up $13M - with $9M hole city is hoping to fill

Jersey City's 2007 municipal operating budget is $148 million - an increase of $13 million over last year's $135 million figure, according to city officials.

The Jersey City City Council voted Wednesday night unanimously and without comment to introduce the budget, even though Jersey City Business Administrator Brian O'Reilly said it includes a $9 million shortfall.
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Last year, the city closed a $25 million shortfall in the 2005-2006 budget by raising property taxes 18 percent - increasing property taxes from $19.30 per $1,000 of assessed valuation to $22.85 per $1,000.

O'Reilly said he is hopeful of finding additional revenues to forestall another tax increase.

From the Cherry Hill Courier Post:
Trenton mulls regional property taxes

In a move that would significantly change how property taxes are collected in New Jersey, state lawmakers Thursday debated whether the state should move away from having each town collect property taxes.

An interfaith group that seeks to resolve inequality in New Jersey communities and a Minnesota law professor suggested that the state shift to regional property taxation, which they argued could help most homeowners and end competition for commercial development.

"It creates a community of interest," Myron Orfield, an associate law professor at the University of Minnesota, told a special committee considering New Jersey property tax changes as he detailed how the Minneapolis-St. Paul area has used regional property taxation for 25 years.

Assemblyman John Burzichelli, the committee co-chairman, said he found the testimony "very interesting," but didn't know if the idea would work in New Jersey.

"The issue is very engaging," said Burzichelli, D-Gloucester.

From the Home News Tribune:
Revamped property tax won't fix inequities of a flawed system

Yesterday, a group of them sitting on a committee considering changes in the state's tax structure, spent time listening to a recommendation that the property tax be collected by the state on a regional basis rather than by each municipality.

This approach, according to its proponents, would reduce property taxes for a majority of towns — meaning, of course, that it would increase property taxes for a minority.

And that shift, ostensibly, would correct some of the inequities in the way the tax is levied now.

The concept of a statewide property tax has been raised in New Jersey before, and it has gotten a rude reception from the public and from many folks who depend on the public for votes.
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Those in government can't avoid that reality just because it's perceived to be politically unpopular.

But a statewide property tax is not the answer.

From the Herald/Record:
Public workers' benefits to be aired

The Joint Legislative Committee on Public Employee Benefits Reform will hold a public hearing Tuesday in Clifton on the potential for cost savings in pensions and health benefits provided to government workers.

The bipartisan panel is one of four commissioned by the Legislature to study ways to rein in property tax increases. Others are focusing on consolidation of local government services and public-school funding reform.
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"We have spent more than a month gathering information from various experts and professionals from across the country," said Assemblywoman Nellie Pou, D-Passaic, a co-chairperson of the joint committee. "Now New Jersey taxpayers and residents will have the opportunity to air their ideas and opinions on pensions and benefits reform."