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Gannet Newspapers New Jersey, Sunday April 11, 2010 - Gov. Chris Christie pushes powerful NJEA teachers union into corner
Christie: union leader's email 'beyond the pale' Politicker NJ
Property taxes would rise with Christie budget cuts
Wednesday, The Record
Philadelphia Inquirer - Sharp debate on N.J. budget
As legislative review opens, Democrats assailed the "tax-laden" plan, the GOP praised spending cuts.
Newark schools: Finding ways to do more with less
The Record - Teachers take off the gloves
Gannet Newspapers New Jersey, Sunday April 11, 2010 -
Gov. Chris Christie pushes powerful NJEA teachers union into corner
TRENTON — Some of the state's more powerful leaders have privately complained for years about the power of the state's teachers union. Yet virtually none would voice those issues in public or even respond to reporters' questions.
But now Gov. Chris Christie is three weeks into a full assault on the New Jersey Education Association, and others are criticizing the union's entrenched stance on pay and benefits, an amazing change for a union long considered the pre-eminent power player in Trenton.
The battle appears to be ready to widen. The state's top education chief said in an interview last week that the Republican administration is talking to Democratic legislative leaders and expects to find support for a broad array of new school reforms.
Education Commissioner Bret Schundler outlined the reforms and said, “All those things will ultimately move forward, and you'll see the union won't be a participant in these discussions because they've chosen not to.”
NJEA President Barbara Keshishian said in an interview that the Christie administration has stopped communicating with the union. She said the NJEA met two or three times with Schundler and held “general conversations,” but there has been nothing further for six weeks.
Keshishian contended that many changes sought by Christie need to be done more slowly, and some must be negotiated on a district-by-district basis.
“You can't do it in a broad stroke on the state level,” she said. “Nor can he fix years of neglect in a single budget.”
The reforms outlined by Schundler include changes in teacher contract-negotiation rules to provide more power to school boards, requirements for employees to pay more toward health benefits, pension adjustments for current employees and county superintendent review of union contracts.
The administration had first proposed many of the changes in its proposal to provide local governments a “tool kit” to hold down taxes. Schundler specifically noted that the administration would seek to reinstitute rules that allowed school boards to impose a “last best offer” during a contract impasse.
Schundler said those changes are needed because the state has seen a historic drop in revenues, and government must cut costs.
The NJEA, Schundler said, is “saying to the people of New Jersey, ‘If the system is insolvent, it's your problem.’”
Christie's proposed budget calls for some $820 million less in local school aid than last year. But the governor said that administrators, teachers and school workers can nearly make that all up by accepting a one-year wage freeze.
Christie continued to press his case last week when he visited a Morris County school district to praise the staff for agreeing to the freeze.
“The teachers union here cared deeply about saving jobs, and the superintendent about preserving what they have here in Boonton,” Christie said.
Union members, he added, “had some guts and were willing to go against what was dictated to them from Trenton,” referring to the NJEA.
The NJEA has punched back at Christie with a TV ad campaign that contends the governor has the “wrong priorities.”
The union wants Christie to extend an income tax surcharge on individuals who make more than $400,000 to bring in another $1 billion and to extend a corporate tax surcharge that would raise $80 million.
The state's deficit is estimated as high as $11 billion. As part of his budget cuts, Christie plans on laying off 1,300 state workers starting in January. Keshishian and other union officials have said a part of the money raised through the union's proposal would go toward the state budget, but a good portion would go to local schools.
Pete McDonough, who served as spokesman for then-Gov. Christie Whitman, said Christie has, like other great political leaders, found an opponent with which to prove his mark with voters.
“Reagan had the air traffic controllers union. . . Bill Clinton had Newt Gingrich, and now Chris Christie has the NJEA,” McDonough said. “They are the foil to him that is allowing him to stake out positions in a clear and forceful way. When you are trying to define yourself, it is helpful to have the light and dark, the white and black.”
Until now, the 200,000-member union had held virtually unchallenged sway in New Jersey.
The union has handed out millions of dollars in campaign contributions, obtained better pay and benefits for teachers, and thwarted proposed changes such as the school voucher program, all with a highly paid staff working from a very large brick and glass headquarters across from the Statehouse.
But in the dust-up over the current state budget, others beside Christie think it's time for the union to give ground.
“I have never been more disappointed in the reaction of NJEA to (what is) the most serious crisis in my entire life regarding the state budget,” said Assemblyman Joseph Malone, R-Ocean, the Assembly budget officer and a former teacher and school administrator.
Malone said that he had two visitors to his district office one morning late last month: a local teacher who complained about having to pay toward health benefits and an unemployed man.
As he listened to the teacher, Malone watched the other visitor walk over to an aide, say his house was about to be foreclosed on and beg for help to find any job available.
That scene, said Malone, shows what's wrong with the NJEA's stance.
“This is insane,” Malone said.
Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, which represents 100 suburban school districts, said the NJEA has become so accustomed to winning political battles that she thinks its leaders believe they can't lose on the pay and benefits issues.
But the depth of New Jersey's fiscal crisis has presented a new scenario, she said.
“It's hard sometimes when you've won so much. You don't recognize that you don't need to win 10 of 10 times to move forward,” Strickland said. “There isn't an overall sense of empathy that has surfaced yet for people losing jobs.”
Michael Riccards of the Hall Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Trenton focused on New Jersey issues, said state legislators have grown to fear, but not love, the union and hence are sitting on the sidelines now.
“Do you notice that the Democrats haven't rallied to the defense of the NJEA?” Riccards asked.
One such Democrat might be state Sen. Richard J. Codey, a former governor.
In an interview, Codey said he thought Christie's portrayal of the union as the villain is over the top.
“I don't think they're the big bully Chris would make them out to be,” Codey said. “That they control the Legislature is totally false.”
But Codey also said the teachers are out of touch on some issues, as in their fight against contributing to their health care costs.
“To find a person in the private business not (contributing for health care) would be like finding a bald eagle,” Codey said. “They need to understand that.”
Christie: union leader's email 'beyond the pale'
Politicker NJ, By Max Pizarro | April 9th, 2010
NEW BRUNSWICK - Gov. Chris Christie today seized the opportunity of an opposition email to draw a stark difference between teachers and their union leadership as he battles for teachers to accept a one-year wage freeze to meet the demands - and trickle down impact - of his FY 2011 budget.
"This is beyond the pale," said the governor, speaking at St. Peter's University Hospital after a tour of the facility. "This is not a problem with the teachers, this is a problem with the teachers' union. To have the leader of the Bergen County Teachers' union send out an email...to members asking them to pray for my death...
"There are teachers all across New Jersey, when they learn about this thing, they're going to be ashamed, ashamed to be a part of union leadership that would actually pray for the death of an elected official."
Joe Coppola, president of the Bergen County Education Association, said the circulated email pryaing for the death of the governor was "inappropriate" and not meant for public consumption.
Christie at the podium poked fun at Coppola's explanation for the runaway email.
"I feel strongly about bringing educational costs under control," said the governor. "Because I'm saying take one year off from your 4 percent salary increases and take a year to pay a miniminal amount of your health insurance, the leadership prays for my death? Their initial reaction was they didn't intend it to be public. So private prayer for my death is okay, but public prayer for my death is not okay?"
The flap prompted Barbara Keshishian, president of the New Jersey Education Association, to go into statewide damage control mode.
"Language such as that has no place in civil discourse," Christie's nemesis said in a statement. "It was intended as humor, but it is not funny. Our ongoing discussion with Gov. Christie is centered on serious issues of significant importance to the state, and that must be the focus of all our conversation. We deeply regret that the 'prayer' reference was included in the letter, and we apologize to Gov. Christie for both the content of the 'prayer' and the lack of respect it demonstrated."
When a reporter today asked Christie if he had ever received death threats during his tenure as U.S. Attorney, the governor replied in the affirmative.
"Yes, I got death threats twice when I was U.S. Attorney - from street gangs," he said. "One from the Latin Kings and one from the Bloods. Listen, let's be serious, I don't think this was a threat. It's a wish. I think there's a difference, but candidly, I think a wish may be more perverse than a threat."
Philadelphia Inquirer - Sharp debate on N.J. budget
As legislative review opens, Democrats assailed the "tax-laden" plan, the GOP praised spending cuts.
TRENTON - Lawmakers opened their review of Gov. Christie's proposed budget on Wednesday with sniping, sharp criticisms, and a reversal of roles for Democrats and Republicans.
On what some lawmakers referred to as their "opening day" on the $29.3 billion budget - their first hearings with nonpartisan fiscal analysts and Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff - Democrats said Christie's plan would increase costs for the middle class, result in the largest property tax increases in state history, and give a break to the wealthy.
They also accused the Christie administration of "incompetence" for not releasing more budget details three weeks after the proposal was introduced.
"What we have in front of us is a tax-laden budget plan that targets the middle class, senior citizens, and the poor," said Assembly Budget Chairman Louis D. Greenwald (D., Camden). "It's a budget that spares no one but the wealthy and does nothing to cure New Jersey's addiction to property taxes."
He and other Democrats, who control the Legislature, said cuts to school and municipal aid, and the suspension of property tax rebates for 2010, amount to tax increases.
Republicans fired back by criticizing Democratic tax proposals and praising Christie for cutting spending. They said mayors and school boards should likewise reduce expenses.
Years of rising state spending did not hold down property taxes, said Assemblyman Jay Webber (R., Morris).
"While state spending went up, property taxes kept going up," said Webber, chairman of the state Republican Party. "There is a different way to go, and that's what the governor's proposal gives us an opportunity to do."
The back-and-forth likely foreshadows months of debate on the budget, which is supposed to be signed by July 1.
A morning hearing on revenue projections, a relatively dry topic, was full of pointed critiques and snippy exchanges between members of the Assembly Budget Committee.
After eight years featuring Republican criticism of budgets proposed by Democratic governors, the parties switched scripts.
Democrats - who defended similar proposals from recent Democratic governors - slammed Christie for using fund raids to close shortfalls and skipping the state's $3 billion pension payment.
Republicans - who long criticized such fiscal maneuvers as unsustainable gimmicks - came to Christie's defense, using the arguments Democrats previously employed: that if the steps were not taken, even more painful cuts would strike needed programs.
Much of the debate centered on an income-tax surcharge on those making $400,000 and up, which expired at the end of 2009. If reimposed, the tax hike would bring in around $1 billion and could ease some budget reductions.
Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D., Gloucester) contrasted that tax cut for the wealthy with the proposed loss of property tax rebates this year and a $45 million reduction in Earned Income Tax Credits, which go to those with low and moderate incomes.
A married couple with three children and $48,279 of income, the maximum for receiving the credit, would lose $283, Burzichelli said. Treasury figures show that the average recipient of the credit would lose around $92.
"The guys at the very top, who are going to be least impacted, are getting a break," Burzichelli said. "I don't think there's shared sacrifice."
Eristoff said Christie's budget did not include any broad-based tax increases.
"This governor will not sign a budget that increases taxes. To do so would break faith with the people of New Jersey, already the highest-taxed in the nation," and would hurt the state's economic position, he said. "Besides, history teaches us that tax increases in New Jersey never close deficits. They simply fuel more spending."
Democrats, however, said some savings proposals - increasing co-pays under a prescription-drug program for senior citizens and passing on more costs for the care of the developmentally disabled, among others - amount to de facto tax hikes.
Eristoff disputed the characterization, and called the changes service cuts.
"New Jersey has a spending problem. Specifically, New Jersey's state and local governments have built up unsustainable spending commitments over a long period of time," he said.
He also said Christie has reduced "one-shot" budget fixes from $3.8 billion to $1.7 billion.
The day began with revenue projections from the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services.
Through July 2011, the OLS projected, state revenue will come in $250 million below Christie's predictions. If that forecast holds up, it would require more budget fixes, though the difference is small compared with overall spending.
The gloomier outlook comes in the midst of an "extraordinary and unprecedented state revenue decline," said David Rosen, the OLS's legislative budget and finance officer.
Revenues declined 11.2 percent in fiscal year 2009 and 6.1 percent in 2010, the largest annual declines in the last 40 years, Rosen said.
Compared with other budgets proposed in tough fiscal times, Christie's "relies decidedly more on spending reductions and less on revenue enhancement," Rosen said. Even so, the plan includes more than $600 million "state resources solutions." It also assumes the federal government will increase Medicaid funding to the state by close to $500 million.
He noted that the budget continues the state's pattern of failing to meet pension contribution obligations, this year by a record $3 billion.
As lawmakers begin to delve deep into plans for each state department, Rosen said that detailed budget documents had not begun to be released until late Tuesday, far later than usual.
"The delays have been extraordinary, beyond what I would have expected," he said, adding that the problem hampered the OLS analysis of the plan.
Greenwald referred to the delay as incompetence.
It was one more of the day's sharp exchanges, which continued into an afternoon hearing with Eristoff.
Addressing the administration's top fiscal officer, veteran Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R., Burlington) cracked sarcastically, "Mr. Treasurer, welcome to the budget hearings."
Contact staff writer Jonathan Tamari at 609-989-9016 or jtamari@phillynews.com.
Newark schools: Finding ways to do more with less
By Joan Whitlow April 09, 2010, 5:31AMBottom of Form
The Newark public school system is slated to take a $42 million hit from Gov. Chris Christie’s budget balancing plan. May I offer a few thoughts on facing the new reality.
Newark School Superintendent Clifford Janey says more than 700 jobs are on the line. Joseph Del Grosso, president of the Newark Teachers Union, says so many teachers are planning to retire that much of the job cutting might be accomplished by attrition, not layoffs.
A big problem for a district like Newark will be figuring who is going to stay and who will have to be laid off once seniority, tenure and bumping rights are considered. So, dear teachers: Make up your mind, and give notice sooner rather than later, to help cut the confusion come September.
Janey plans to move 158 central office staff back to the classrooms as literacy and math coaches. They are all certified teachers, but I hope there will be a good transition program for them. People who are grumpy about losing administrative jobs don’t always spread sunshine in the classroom, particularly not any who were moved up and out because they were lousy teachers.
Another 150 administrative positions will be eliminated, along with classroom jobs and various counseling directors. Del Grosso wants to know why the district doesn’t eliminate its four regional superintendents and their staffs. That’s a good question. If regionalization works, wouldn’t standardized test scores and graduation rates be rising more rapidly? Janey eliminated one of the regional offices, but kept four. He says he needs help supervising all the principals and schools.
Maybe it’s time to do more with less? After all, even with $42 million less, Newark will be running a $940 million total budget for 40,000 kids. That’s a lot of money for a district that is still lumbering toward the kind of education those kids and this city need.
Janey also came into office saying an inordinate number of staff were making more than $100,000. They are not all administrators. A teacher who gets an advanced degree, one who takes on coaching or other duties, will make more. Longevity accounts for most of the $100,000 group, Janey said. In any case, in the 2007-2008 budget year, with 7,389 employees, Newark had 337 people making at least $100,000; that went up to 575 among 7,420 employees in the 2009-2010 budget year. It will be 500 out of 6,650 in the upcoming budget year, Janey said. He says the trend is moving in the right direction. Slowly but surely?
Good teachers are worth their weight in gold, particularly in urban districts. But more should be done to base teachers’ pay on the weight of their worth — on their performance in educating kids, not just their years on the job.
Del Grosso complained that teachers and public employees in general are now being characterized as villains, as if they were single-handedly responsible for all that is wrong with the state budget. The various governors and Legislatures over the years have to take responsibility as well, he said. How about all those public officials who work more than one public job, collect more than one pension?
He’s right, but many of the things that school teachers and their districts have taken for granted also have to change. Is teacher pay really that bad for a workforce that doesn’t work in the summer? Is it too much to ask that sick days be used when you have the flu, not treated as a commodity?
I talked to state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler. He said it’s true that many of the suburban pro-budget-cut constituencies that put Christie in office are screaming because their schools got the same treatment as Newark and the other cities, a school aid cut of up to 5 percent of their budgets. Some of those who went for Christie were expecting an ax aimed just at the cities. But that would have been unconstitutional, it would have been wrong, Schundler said. Yes.
In the meantime, Janey said, school superintendents from Essex County will be meeting with their legislators. Janey is preparing to make the cuts, but says he’s not convinced the final chapter has been written. With all the screaming in the suburbs, he may be right. I just wonder which direction this crisis might be headed if the schools that educate urban children — that do in fact need extra money to do that job well — had been doing a better job all along.
Teachers Take off the Gloves - The Record
Friday, April 9, 2010
Last updated: Friday April 9, 2010, 8:26 AM
BY PATRICIA ALEX
The Record
STAFF WRITER
Bergen County representatives of the state
teachers union have ratcheted up the
campaign against Governor Christie's agenda
in a fiery memo that encourages members to
"get some dirt" and "go public," and adds the
education commissioner to the "attack list."
But it's the memo's closing "prayer" that is
sure to ignite controversy:
"Dear Lord … this year you have taken away
my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite a
ctress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer,
Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman,
Billy Mays. … I just wanted to let you know
that Chris Christie is my favorite governor."
The memo, sent to locals in the county earlier
this week and obtained by The Record on
Thursday, is signed by New Jersey Education
Association field representatives, including
Joe Coppola, president of the Bergen County
Education Association.
Coppola said the "prayer" was a joke and was
never meant to be made public.
"Obviously, it's inappropriate," he said. "I
would never wish anybody dead."
The Governor's Office, however, wasn't
laughing.
"There is nothing professional about this
'professional' group," Christie's spokesman
Michael Drewniak said, referring to the NJEA.
"These tactics come from the same people
who in public Web postings wish the
governor would die. How do they explain
themselves to the children?"
The "prayer" has also been posted by fans a
number of times on the Facebook page of
New Jersey Teachers United Against
Governor Chris Christie's Pay Freeze, a
group that now has nearly 67,000 followers.
The site contains other vitriolic and profane
postings as well.
The union e-mail blast details local initiatives
in the next two months, including rallies,
advertisements, a no-confidence vote in
Christie and letter-writing campaigns. It was
sent to locals in the county that represent
more than 17,000 teachers and support
staff.
"We now have a Rapid Response Team whose
responsibility it is to follow Christie's every
move and every word and when he lies, call
him on it," says the memo. "We are going after
HIM."
The memo tells members to add Education
Commissioner Bret Schundler to the "attack
list" as the union steps up lobbying efforts
against the administration's agenda, which
includes pay freezes for teachers, budget
cuts for schools and pension reforms.
"I'd sooner have people discuss ideas with
me than attack me personally," Schundler
said in a statement. "We would like the NJEA
working with us."
The tenor of the e-mail reflects growing
acrimony as the NJEA appears to retrench
while legislative debate over Christie's budget
begins. The NJEA campaign will be "in his face
and hard-hitting — a real change from the
old strategy," the memo says.
Steve Baker, spokesman for the NJEA in
Trenton, said he would not characterize the
union's initiatives as an attack. "But we do
have an effort to counter misinformation.
There is concern at the state and local levels
to hold the governor accountable for his
budget choices."
Christie's budget calls for a cut of $820
million in school aid to districts statewide.
The loss is likely to force layoffs, program
cuts and property tax hikes. The
administration says an across-the-board pay
freeze for all school employees could help
close the gap. The union counters that the
governor should instead reinstitute a tax
surcharge on those making over $400,000.
The NJEA is urging its members to contact
their local legislators and Christie's office.
Baker said NJEA units in each county are
likely planning events similar to those in
Bergen. The Bergen union is circulating a
form letter for its members to sign and send
to the governor detailing why they have "no
confidence" in Christie.
"You have broken your campaign promises
to us by attacking educators, their pensions,
benefits, tenure, professional association,
and collective bargaining," the letter reads.
For his part, Christie has called the NJEA "the
bully of State Street" and vowed he won't be
cowed by the group. With more than 200,000
active and relatively vocal members, the NJEA
has long been a potent force in state politics.
It worked on behalf of Christie's opponent in
the November elections.
Joe Cheff, head of the Passaic County
Education Association, said his members
also would engage in lobbying efforts in the
next few months, and many resented the way
they have been demonized and put off by the
governor. "We have to realize the election is
over," he said. "Let's talk."
But those looking for cooler heads to prevail
might be in for a wait.
"We wanted to work with the governor," said
Baker, of the NJEA.
"He took this to an adversarial relationship.
For him it's all about scoring political points
and settling political scores. … We're going to
continue to push back."
E-mail: alex@northjersey.com
Property taxes would rise with Christie budget cuts
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Last updated: Wednesday April 7, 2010, 11:27 AM
BY JOHN REITMEYER AND DAVE SHEINGOLD
The Record
Aid Impact chart: Click here to see how your community would be affected
Property tax bills in every North Jersey town would grow — some by $1,000 or more — if local governments keep spending what they do now and lose state aid Governor Christie says should be cut.
In all, median property tax bills would have to go up by $415 to sustain the spending by schools and towns without the state aid Christie wants to eliminate, according to an analysis of local spending and state aid by The Record. Legislative hearings on Christie's budget begin today in Trenton.
If local governments in Bergen County choose not to make any cuts this year and simply pass along the loss of state aid to the local taxpayer, median property tax bills would rise by $351, according to The Record's analysis.
In Passaic County, the impact would be even greater. Median property tax bills there would go up by $542, according to the analysis.
Those increases would be tacked onto property tax bills that already are among the highest in the state. The median property tax bills in Bergen and Passaic counties last year were $8,762 and $7,722, respectively. Both are well above the statewide average of $7,281.
The figures include all taxable properties, commercial and residential.
In Leonia in Bergen County, the median property tax bill would go up by $536. And property tax bills in Garfield would have to go up by $486 to absorb the proposed aid cuts.
But the most severe cases in North Jersey are Passaic and Paterson in Passaic County. The median tax bills in those two communities would rise by more than $1,000, representing increases of roughly 15 percent, because they rely far more on state aid than most communities.
In all, median property tax bills in every town in North Jersey would have to go up by at least $145 to sustain the current level at which schools and towns are spending money, according to the analysis.
Christie said the state, which has seen its tax revenue stream depleted by the recession, can no longer afford to subsidize local governments that increase their own spending each year.
Local governments in New Jersey spent nearly $45 billion last year, according to data compiled by the state Department of Community Affairs. By comparison, the state budget Christie proposed for the new budget year on March 16 totals $29.3 billion.
Local government spending is up 70 percent since 2001, and has more than quadrupled since 1990. Property tax bills, in turn, have increased by 56 percent since 2001.
"This is the problem that we have," said Michael Drewniak, Christie's press secretary. "We have municipalities and school districts that have become addicted to spending."
"There had to come a time [to cut spending] and unfortunately the time has arrived where municipalities and schools have to pare that back," he said. "Government can't continuously expand, particularly in times of extreme economic distress."
Former Gov. Jon S. Corzine tried to counter the state's high property tax burden by sending out rebate checks to homeowners and boosting aid to schools and municipalities.
But Christie, who beat Corzine in November largely by pledging to reduce property taxes, is eliminating rebate checks while also cutting aid to schools and towns.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo, D-Wood-Ridge, said the aid cuts combined with the loss of property tax rebate checks that averaged more than $1,000 just two years ago will be "devastating" in North Jersey.
Sarlo said his budget committee, which will hear from state Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff on Thursday, plans a long look at Christie's school aid distribution formula.
North Jersey school districts will present budgets to voters for approval this month.
"They are doing everything they can to cut, [but] they're cutting core programs and laying off excessive amounts of teachers," Sarlo said.
Add in the municipal aid cuts, and Sarlo said Christie's budget would bring on "the highest property tax increase in a long time."
But Christie has also proposed a constitutional amendment that would prohibit local governments from increasing property tax levies by more than 2.5 percent in any given year, a part of his budget largely overshadowed by the aid cuts.
Corzine enacted a 4 percent cap on tax increases in 2007, but that allows several exceptions and is easily circumvented.
Under Christie's cap, a communitywide vote would be needed before local property taxes could go up by more than 2.5 percent.
If it were in place this year, nearly every school district and many municipal governments in North Jersey would have to ask voters for approval to maintain current spending in the face of Christie's cuts, according to The Record's analysis.
Drewniak said imposing a 2.5 percent cap on property tax increases is the "best way" to get more restraint when it comes to spending at the local level.
"It's fundamentally necessary to do this because discipline has to finally come into play," Drewniak said.
Aid Impact chart: Click here to see how your community would be affected
Property tax bills in every North Jersey town would grow — some by $1,000 or more — if local governments keep spending what they do now and lose state aid Governor Christie says should be cut.
COMPOSITE BY JERRY LUCIANI / STAFF ARTIST
Property tax bills in every North Jersey town would grow — some by $1,000 or more — if local governments keep spending what they do now and lose state aid Governor Christie says should be cut.
In all, median property tax bills would have to go up by $415 to sustain the spending by schools and towns without the state aid Christie wants to eliminate, according to an analysis of local spending and state aid by The Record. Legislative hearings on Christie's budget begin today in Trenton.
If local governments in Bergen County choose not to make any cuts this year and simply pass along the loss of state aid to the local taxpayer, median property tax bills would rise by $351, according to The Record's analysis.
In Passaic County, the impact would be even greater. Median property tax bills there would go up by $542, according to the analysis.
Those increases would be tacked onto property tax bills that already are among the highest in the state. The median property tax bills in Bergen and Passaic counties last year were $8,762 and $7,722, respectively. Both are well above the statewide average of $7,281.
The figures include all taxable properties, commercial and residential.
In Leonia in Bergen County, the median property tax bill would go up by $536. And property tax bills in Garfield would have to go up by $486 to absorb the proposed aid cuts.
But the most severe cases in North Jersey are Passaic and Paterson in Passaic County. The median tax bills in those two communities would rise by more than $1,000, representing increases of roughly 15 percent, because they rely far more on state aid than most communities.
In all, median property tax bills in every town in North Jersey would have to go up by at least $145 to sustain the current level at which schools and towns are spending money, according to the analysis.
Christie said the state, which has seen its tax revenue stream depleted by the recession, can no longer afford to subsidize local governments that increase their own spending each year.
Local governments in New Jersey spent nearly $45 billion last year, according to data compiled by the state Department of Community Affairs. By comparison, the state budget Christie proposed for the new budget year on March 16 totals $29.3 billion.
Local government spending is up 70 percent since 2001, and has more than quadrupled since 1990. Property tax bills, in turn, have increased by 56 percent since 2001.
"This is the problem that we have," said Michael Drewniak, Christie's press secretary. "We have municipalities and school districts that have become addicted to spending."
"There had to come a time [to cut spending] and unfortunately the time has arrived where municipalities and schools have to pare that back," he said. "Government can't continuously expand, particularly in times of extreme economic distress."
Former Gov. Jon S. Corzine tried to counter the state's high property tax burden by sending out rebate checks to homeowners and boosting aid to schools and municipalities.
But Christie, who beat Corzine in November largely by pledging to reduce property taxes, is eliminating rebate checks while also cutting aid to schools and towns.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo, D-Wood-Ridge, said the aid cuts combined with the loss of property tax rebate checks that averaged more than $1,000 just two years ago will be "devastating" in North Jersey.
Sarlo said his budget committee, which will hear from state Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff on Thursday, plans a long look at Christie's school aid distribution formula.
North Jersey school districts will present budgets to voters for approval this month
"They are doing everything they can to cut, [but] they're cutting core programs and laying off excessive amounts of teachers," Sarlo said.
Add in the municipal aid cuts, and Sarlo said Christie's budget would bring on "the highest property tax increase in a long time."
But Christie has also proposed a constitutional amendment that would prohibit local governments from increasing property tax levies by more than 2.5 percent in any given year, a part of his budget largely overshadowed by the aid cuts.
Corzine enacted a 4 percent cap on tax increases in 2007, but that allows several exceptions and is easily circumvented.
Under Christie's cap, a communitywide vote would be needed before local property taxes could go up by more than 2.5 percent.
If it were in place this year, nearly every school district and many municipal governments in North Jersey would have to ask voters for approval to maintain current spending in the face of Christie's cuts, according to The Record's analysis.
Drewniak said imposing a 2.5 percent cap on property tax increases is the "best way" to get more restraint when it comes to spending at the local level.
"It's fundamentally necessary to do this because discipline has to finally come into play," Drewniak said.
