Partisanship can't be allowed to slow tax reform

The state Legislature’s bi-partisan joint committees recently released 98 recommendations to address New Jersey’s increasing property tax crisis. I applaud my colleagues from both parties for devoting time and energy to produce potential solutions. In just three months, these committees have developed proposals designed to address problems that have existed for nearly three decades.

As has unfortunately been the case in years past, there was no shortage of knee-jerk objections to any potential reforms. After reading through the first 100 pages of the nearly 600 released by these committees, I was surprised to read a biting criticism had already been issued by the Assembly Minority Leader which made me marvel at his speed reading skills. It reminded me of the Marx Brothers movie “Horse Feathers” in which Groucho sang “I don't know what they have to say, it makes no difference anyway - whatever it is, I'm against it!”

Another community leader notified parents that she would have to lay off dozens of teachers as a result of the recommendations, and issued this dire news well before the recommendations were even released – prompting parents to call my office to express their concerns.

It would also be naïve to think that there will not be valid objections to certain of the recommendations which were issued. We must all be involved in separating the wheat from the chaff – and from the political rhetoric aimed more at Election Day success rather than making New Jersey more affordable.

The recommendations explore cost savings in all areas of public service in the state, and suggest a potential 20% reduction in property taxes, which is essential to ensuring that New Jersey’s middle class is not forced to live in Pennsylvania zip codes.

While it is impossible to address each recommendation here, there were certain ideas which should garner wide support and require little debate.

I was encouraged by recommendations to end abuses in the pension system, and to banning dual office holding – two issues I have focused on for nearly 3 years. Ending these abuses through the elimination of multiple pensions for individuals, as well as banning pension “spiking” which artificially inflates pension payments could save considerable taxpayer funds. Other common sense measures such as allowing teachers to waive their health care coverage when they are covered under their spouses’ policies should be incorporated into our initiatives, and myself and others have already written legislation to enact these measures.

In addition, the committees’ decision to support my legislation implementing SCI recommendations to curb school administrative pay abuses will ensure that millions of tax dollars meant to educate our children actually reach the classroom.

The Legislature can not avoid difficult issues for fear of political consequences, which include updating Abbott school district criteria and funding in a way that is fair to suburban New Jersey communities. Monmouth County schools can not stand idly by while nearly 60% of our state government’s education dollars are sent to districts educating only 1 in 5 of New Jersey’s children. While we must invest in kids in lower income areas to ensure that they have opportunities to excel, we must be mindful of the effects our policies have on all of our children and insistent upon greater accountability for these funds and their results.

The potential benefits of consolidation and shared services in our towns must also be pursued diligently. Based upon my experiences in business, I can state with certainty that there is no company in the world which could remain competitive with over 1,300 individual payroll, legal, purchasing and accounting offices in a state the size of New Jersey – exactly what New Jersey is doing with our vast number of school districts and municipalities.

I support the notion that municipalities and school districts of particularly small size (perhaps those with less than 1,000 in total population, or with less than 50 total students) be merged with their neighbors. While many will sound the alarms that this will hurt their “local identity,” we are all paying for the budgets of these entities which are no larger than single neighborhoods. Local identity is of no use if nobody can afford to live locally.

While some of the proposals put forward may not ultimately be effective, we must all work to find solutions to this complex problem, rather than searching for problems with any and all solutions. As certain legislators in Trenton continue to discount our colleagues’ efforts, they should be reminded that the property tax crisis has been nurtured by this type of rhetorical divisiveness.

Over the coming weeks, I will review all pertinent information and will take the lead on many of the issues highlighted in these reports. I will likely oppose other initiatives if they will adversely affect our communities and schools in Monmouth County. I also welcome any guidance readers can offer, which can be sent to me at AsmPanter@njleg.org.

This is a tremendous opportunity for New Jersey to change its direction and I am encouraged by the recent actions of the Legislature and, more importantly, what we can accomplish by working together in the coming months. There will be tough and unpopular choices we must all consider, but the alternative of doing nothing is simply no longer acceptable.