| ||||||||||||
6-17-10 Cap 2.5%: In the News
‘How a cap fares elsewhere’ The Record ‘NJ Gov. Chris Christie visits Perth Amboy to talk up 2.5 percent tax cap’ My Central Jersey
‘How a cap fares elsewhere’ The Record Wednesday, June 16, 2010 BY STEPHANIE AKIN THE RECORD STAFF WRITER PARAMUS — For an idea of how the Christie administration's proposed property tax cap would work, New Jersey residents can look to Massachusetts, where a similar model has been in place for more than 30 years. But finding consensus on whether it has helped or hurt the state once labeled "Taxachusetts" is more difficult. Public policy experts participating in a panel discussion Tuesday at Bergen Community College described the Massachusetts law, known as Proposition 2 1/2, as a "lazy person's way" to handle out-of-control spending without addressing the root of the problem or as an effective measure to force politicians to be more accountable to taxpayers. Jon Shure, deputy director of the State Fiscal Project Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, said caps won't address the rising costs of health insurance, public pensions and providing government services, among many factors that have contributed to making New Jersey's state and local tax burden the highest in the country. While tax caps force local governments to spend less money, he said, they don't allow them to make the cuts in the most efficient ways. "Pardon me, but that's like saying if your pants are too small, you could cut off your feet," he said. Shure and Jay Ash, the city manager of Chelsea, Mass., said statistics showing the success of Proposition 2 1/2 don't take into account specific circumstances that would be difficult to replicate in New Jersey. The Massachusetts Legislature coupled Proposition 2 1/2 with an enormous influx in state aid, more than quadrupling the money the state gave to local governments from 1981 to 1990. No such measure is planned in New Jersey. In addition, school enrollments dropped by 20 percent in the state during the same period. New Jersey enrollments are expected to drop by only 2 percent. "Those two facts alone should tell us why the Massachusetts experience is not very relevant to New Jersey today," Shure said. Shure and Ash added that the law heralded a dramatic reduction in local government services, combined with new fees for everything from student participation in extracurricular activities to fire department response at an accident scene. Ash, who said the pressure on his community mounts every year, summed up his reaction to the New Jersey proposal in his presentation title: "Huh? Of all the things you could have picked, you picked Proposition 2 1/2." Other experts, however, said Proposition 2 1/2 hasn't had the negative consequences in Massachusetts that opponents predict in New Jersey. Josh Barro, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Public Policy and Research, a conservative think tank, said measures of Massachusetts public school student achievement have improved since Proposition 2 1/2 was passed in 1980, crime rates have dropped and the rate of deaths from fire is the third lowest in the country. "I don't understand how that sounds like a desperate or doomsday scenario," he said. "That sounds good to me." He said the increase in state aid doesn't come close to offsetting the reduction in property taxes that Massachusetts residents have enjoyed during the past 30 years — a drop he said defies the state's Taxachusetts moniker, earned in the years before Proposition 2 1/2 was passed. Today, he said, the state's tax rates are about average for the country. Audience member Stephen Gross, a trustee of the Edgewater Board of Education, said he was attracted to the Massachusetts model because it would give school districts more power in contract negotiations. Without some kind of state imposition, he said, "you leave it to local municipalities and school boards to try to control costs at a reasonable level, and it's virtually an impossible task," he said. Albert LiCata, Executive Director of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors, who was in the audience along with the mayors of about a dozen municipalities, said his organization would support a Massachusetts-style cap, as long as it was accompanied by state help with costs like health insurance premiums and state mandates that are beyond local government control. Panel member Charlie Lyons, a former selectman from Arlington, Mass., said state and local governments should start thinking about how they will make a Massachusetts-type cap work, because voters fed up with paying the highest taxes in the country will soon take the decision out of their hands. "If you're No. 1 in the country, and it hits the ballot, it's going to pass," he said. E-mail: akin@northjersey.com ‘NJ Gov. Chris Christie visits Perth Amboy to talk up 2.5 percent tax cap’ My Central Jersey BY LEO D. ROMMEL • STAFF WRITER • JUNE 15, 2010 PERTH AMBOY — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took his proposal to cap property tax increases at 2.5 percent to Perth Amboy on Tuesday, declaring that his plan is imperative in order to get a grip on government spending. The Republican governor told more than 250 people inside the Alexander F. Jankowski Community Center on Olive Street that "Cap 2.5" is the crux of a 33-bill legislative agenda he has proposed to reduce property taxes and give towns and school boards the tools to control costs and live within the cap. Christie said his plan includes changes to collective bargaining and civil service rules governing public employees. He said property taxes have increased 70 percent over the last decade. "There's no problem this cap can't adjust to as long as you have the power in your hands to make the decision," Christie told the audience. "Not some politician making the decision, you making the decision." The approximately one-and-a-half hour event was the sixth town-hall meeting Christie has held statewide to promote the cap, modeled after a similar policy in Massachusetts that prohibits local government from hiking property taxes more than 2.5 percent annually. Christie said the cap — which would come in the form of a constitutional amendment and would replace the current 4-percent statutory cap — would have to be first approved by the Democrat-controlled state Legislature, then by voters. Christie said the cap could only be exceeded for debt service payments or with voter approval. He gave the example that if there was an increase in crime in Perth Amboy, Mayor Wilda Diaz may want to hire more police officers, increasing taxes 3.5 percent as opposed to 2.5 percent. "Well, the mayor, under Cap 2.5, won't be able to do that herself," he said. "She'll need to come to you, and the (city) council will need to come to you, and make the case. "And then they'll put the question on the ballot: Are you willing to exceed the 2.5-percent cap to pay for more police officers?" he continued. "Then you vote yes or no." Christie added that the cap may encourage some towns and school districts to merge and share services to be more cost-efficient. Diaz supports the tax cap. Perth Amboy municipal property taxes have risen significantly over the last two years, she said. "The residents of Perth Amboy have faced a tax levy increase up to 26 percent," she said. "So, when you hear that there's going to be a cap of 2.5, that there is a possibility that down the line that we will have the opportunity that it will go to the voters and they will decide what their tax rate will be, I think it will be welcoming." City resident Reinaldo Aviles attended the town-hall meeting and applauded Christie's proposal. "I think it's a good step forward. I think it needed to happen 10, 15 years ago," he said. "Hopefully, it won't be one of those quick fixes. Hopefully, like he says, it'll be a long-term reform that we can live under and benefit from." However, Aviles echoed the comments of many in attendance who said Christie should have come later in the day. "I think he should come more often, but the next time he comes, he should come in the evening," Aviles said. "This is a working-class community. During the day, at 11 o'clock, you're not going to get much of a crowd."
‘How a cap fares elsewhere’ The Record ‘NJ Gov. Chris Christie visits Perth Amboy to talk up 2.5 percent tax cap’ My Central Jersey
‘How a cap fares elsewhere’ The Record Wednesday, June 16, 2010 BY STEPHANIE AKIN THE RECORD STAFF WRITER PARAMUS — For an idea of how the Christie administration's proposed property tax cap would work, New Jersey residents can look to Massachusetts, where a similar model has been in place for more than 30 years. But finding consensus on whether it has helped or hurt the state once labeled "Taxachusetts" is more difficult. Public policy experts participating in a panel discussion Tuesday at Bergen Community College described the Massachusetts law, known as Proposition 2 1/2, as a "lazy person's way" to handle out-of-control spending without addressing the root of the problem or as an effective measure to force politicians to be more accountable to taxpayers. Jon Shure, deputy director of the State Fiscal Project Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, said caps won't address the rising costs of health insurance, public pensions and providing government services, among many factors that have contributed to making New Jersey's state and local tax burden the highest in the country. While tax caps force local governments to spend less money, he said, they don't allow them to make the cuts in the most efficient ways. "Pardon me, but that's like saying if your pants are too small, you could cut off your feet," he said. Shure and Jay Ash, the city manager of Chelsea, Mass., said statistics showing the success of Proposition 2 1/2 don't take into account specific circumstances that would be difficult to replicate in New Jersey. The Massachusetts Legislature coupled Proposition 2 1/2 with an enormous influx in state aid, more than quadrupling the money the state gave to local governments from 1981 to 1990. No such measure is planned in New Jersey. In addition, school enrollments dropped by 20 percent in the state during the same period. New Jersey enrollments are expected to drop by only 2 percent. "Those two facts alone should tell us why the Massachusetts experience is not very relevant to New Jersey today," Shure said. Shure and Ash added that the law heralded a dramatic reduction in local government services, combined with new fees for everything from student participation in extracurricular activities to fire department response at an accident scene. Ash, who said the pressure on his community mounts every year, summed up his reaction to the New Jersey proposal in his presentation title: "Huh? Of all the things you could have picked, you picked Proposition 2 1/2." Other experts, however, said Proposition 2 1/2 hasn't had the negative consequences in Massachusetts that opponents predict in New Jersey. Josh Barro, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Public Policy and Research, a conservative think tank, said measures of Massachusetts public school student achievement have improved since Proposition 2 1/2 was passed in 1980, crime rates have dropped and the rate of deaths from fire is the third lowest in the country. "I don't understand how that sounds like a desperate or doomsday scenario," he said. "That sounds good to me." He said the increase in state aid doesn't come close to offsetting the reduction in property taxes that Massachusetts residents have enjoyed during the past 30 years — a drop he said defies the state's Taxachusetts moniker, earned in the years before Proposition 2 1/2 was passed. Today, he said, the state's tax rates are about average for the country. Audience member Stephen Gross, a trustee of the Edgewater Board of Education, said he was attracted to the Massachusetts model because it would give school districts more power in contract negotiations. Without some kind of state imposition, he said, "you leave it to local municipalities and school boards to try to control costs at a reasonable level, and it's virtually an impossible task," he said. Albert LiCata, Executive Director of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors, who was in the audience along with the mayors of about a dozen municipalities, said his organization would support a Massachusetts-style cap, as long as it was accompanied by state help with costs like health insurance premiums and state mandates that are beyond local government control. Panel member Charlie Lyons, a former selectman from Arlington, Mass., said state and local governments should start thinking about how they will make a Massachusetts-type cap work, because voters fed up with paying the highest taxes in the country will soon take the decision out of their hands. "If you're No. 1 in the country, and it hits the ballot, it's going to pass," he said. E-mail: akin@northjersey.com ‘NJ Gov. Chris Christie visits Perth Amboy to talk up 2.5 percent tax cap’ My Central Jersey BY LEO D. ROMMEL • STAFF WRITER • JUNE 15, 2010 PERTH AMBOY — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took his proposal to cap property tax increases at 2.5 percent to Perth Amboy on Tuesday, declaring that his plan is imperative in order to get a grip on government spending. The Republican governor told more than 250 people inside the Alexander F. Jankowski Community Center on Olive Street that "Cap 2.5" is the crux of a 33-bill legislative agenda he has proposed to reduce property taxes and give towns and school boards the tools to control costs and live within the cap. Christie said his plan includes changes to collective bargaining and civil service rules governing public employees. He said property taxes have increased 70 percent over the last decade. "There's no problem this cap can't adjust to as long as you have the power in your hands to make the decision," Christie told the audience. "Not some politician making the decision, you making the decision." The approximately one-and-a-half hour event was the sixth town-hall meeting Christie has held statewide to promote the cap, modeled after a similar policy in Massachusetts that prohibits local government from hiking property taxes more than 2.5 percent annually. Christie said the cap — which would come in the form of a constitutional amendment and would replace the current 4-percent statutory cap — would have to be first approved by the Democrat-controlled state Legislature, then by voters. Christie said the cap could only be exceeded for debt service payments or with voter approval. He gave the example that if there was an increase in crime in Perth Amboy, Mayor Wilda Diaz may want to hire more police officers, increasing taxes 3.5 percent as opposed to 2.5 percent. "Well, the mayor, under Cap 2.5, won't be able to do that herself," he said. "She'll need to come to you, and the (city) council will need to come to you, and make the case. "And then they'll put the question on the ballot: Are you willing to exceed the 2.5-percent cap to pay for more police officers?" he continued. "Then you vote yes or no." Christie added that the cap may encourage some towns and school districts to merge and share services to be more cost-efficient. Diaz supports the tax cap. Perth Amboy municipal property taxes have risen significantly over the last two years, she said. "The residents of Perth Amboy have faced a tax levy increase up to 26 percent," she said. "So, when you hear that there's going to be a cap of 2.5, that there is a possibility that down the line that we will have the opportunity that it will go to the voters and they will decide what their tax rate will be, I think it will be welcoming." City resident Reinaldo Aviles attended the town-hall meeting and applauded Christie's proposal. "I think it's a good step forward. I think it needed to happen 10, 15 years ago," he said. "Hopefully, it won't be one of those quick fixes. Hopefully, like he says, it'll be a long-term reform that we can live under and benefit from." However, Aviles echoed the comments of many in attendance who said Christie should have come later in the day. "I think he should come more often, but the next time he comes, he should come in the evening," Aviles said. "This is a working-class community. During the day, at 11 o'clock, you're not going to get much of a crowd."
