Posted on 07/22/2006 4:11:35 PM PDT by Swanks
Governor Corzine will spell out a detailed plan next week to change the way government services are paid for in New Jersey, but warns that wholesale property tax reform could take years.
The governor will address the Legislature on Friday, the start of a special session dedicated to property tax reform.
"I think we can do something in the short run, but the real work is about changing the long-term structures," Corzine said Friday in an interview with The Record. "Some of that doesn't have short-term gratification. It will take a number of years to come back with real dividends. It will come. There's no question that economies of scale have dividends."
Much of Corzine's immediate focus will be on forcing New Jersey's hundreds of towns and school districts to consolidate their sprawling services, which now cost property owners $20 billion a year. The governor said he plans to propose significant financial incentives for local governments "to do the right thing" and start merging many of the duplicate services and operations.
To pay for that consolidation carrot, Corzine could use the $600 million now earmarked for property tax relief in the budget passed earlier this month. That money is half of what's expected to come into the state after Corzine pushed to raise the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent.
Democrats in the state Assembly fought the sales tax increase and demanded that any new taxes go to defraying the rising cost of property taxes.
Property tax bills now average about $6,000 annually and rise 6 percent a year. Many homeowners routinely pay much more.
"I would like to lay out a pretty full blueprint that's necessary to really get at this thing," Corzine said of the property tax issue.
"I'd like to get something done."
Corzine declined to offer specifics, but said besides a push for regionalization and shared government services, he will also ask lawmakers to reconsider lavish benefits for new state workers and consider civil service reforms.
New Jersey's property taxes per capita are the highest in the nation. Last year, they averaged $5,914, an increase of nearly 34 percent from five years ago, when homeowners paid $4,429 on average, state records show.
Residents are not likely to see dramatic cuts in those tax bills immediately, Corzine said.
"The short term has got to be 18 months," he said. More change -- and more savings -- will take time. "Within a decade," Corzine predicted.
Governors before him have fought to lower property taxes. Over the years lawmakers have used several temporary fixes that eased the annual pinch, most notably the popular rebate checks sent out each fall, or the property tax freeze for seniors.
Municipal and school officials each year have driven the tax bills higher to cover growing government and school expenses. Rebates, which are approved by the Legislature, have also caused state spending to soar each year, forcing Corzine's immediate predecessors to raise taxes or borrow billions to balance the state budget.
This summer's special legislative session will begin after Corzine addresses a joint session of the Legislature on Friday and continue through the coming months.
Four special committees will study, respectively, school funding, public employee benefits, government consolidation and constitutional issues. Those committees would include three members from the Assembly and three from the Senate, with two Democrats and one Republican from each house.
Each committee would draft a package of legislative proposals to be voted on by the Legislature beginning in late summer.
Public education funding most likely will get the toughest scrutiny, after the push for consolidation. Public education accounts for nearly two-thirds of each property tax bill.
The $30.8 billion state budget features $10.5 billion for public education. The state pays more than $4 billion to some of the least-affluent districts as part of a state Supreme Court order. The state also subsidizes operations at all other public schools and municipal governments.
State officials contend that about 70 percent of the state budget goes back to local towns and schools as well as other programs to keep property taxes in check.
"The core elements or concepts of educational foundations should remain," Corzine said.
Nevertheless, he said he's preparing for a shift in the way educational funds are distributed, with the focus on individual students instead of districts.
The rancorous fight with legislators that led to the first government shutdown in state history will not color the property tax debate, Corzine said.
"I'm an optimistic soul. I feel like there is real goodwill about going at this issue from almost everybody's perspective."
Be patient. Right. They'll get property tax reform the day after some "land down south" freezes over. But the lemmings over in Jersey will keep electing Dims all the live long day. They get what they deserve in the Garden State.
Bottom line: Raise sales tax 17% (6% to 7% is not a 1% increase). Then funnel some back to prop tax 'relief' so NJEA has some of the heat taken off.
I suppose the sales tax increase will also be delayed years.
Aside from the gun laws, the democrats, the rinos, the corruption, the mafia, jim mcgreevy, john corzine, the state income tax, and the cold weather, there's another reason I'm delighted I got out of that hellhole.
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