I think it would be more reasonable to tie any increases in government costs to the regional CPI.
As for reducing the government payroll and comparing the payroll today with that of many years ago, in the intervening years the legislature has enacted more and more mandates on local and state government.
Some of these were a good idea, but all too often they are merely execizes in pandering to one presure group or other, and exerting unnecesssary control or power by the State.
The way to reduce the state and local payrolls, and thereby the tax burden, is for the state to REVIEW all the legislation that has been enacted and all the Administrative Rules that have been created in the last 25 years or so, determine which mandates are ABSOLUTELY necessary and which are not, and eliminate the non-essential mandates. Once this is done, those positions in government service supporting said mandates can be eliminated.
It is pretty simple in concept, but the very people who need to do this, are the people who have benefitted most by this system, i.e. the State Legislature.
Reviews of this type, i.e. of mandated services, should be done on a regular basis at all governmental levels - local, state AND Federal. It should eb the NEW WAY the gvoernment “does business.”
We are STRANGLED not just by taxes, but by the endless bureacracies, red tape, rules and regulations which are imposed on us.
Were the Foudning Fathers to be resurrected today, they would wonder why they bothered in the first place
Like what? What was a good idea?
And what legislature are you talking about? The NJ Legislature doesn't impose mandates upon itself, unless you are talking about things like pensions. (I say these pensions can be reduced or done away with altogether, BTW.)
ML/NJ