So Much For Corzine's Property Tax Caps

Governor Jon Corzine was fond of saying that he helped bring fiscal responsibility to the state by imposing property tax caps - limiting the increases that municipalities could impose every year. That limit was 4%. Of course, the law was also written so that the municipalities could go over that cap without any penalty.

Taxpayers suffer all the more because there's no concept of fiscal responsibility at the state or local level. The state increases the burdens on the localities, and the localities consider that their only option is to raise taxes further.

In Bergen County, only one town could manage to actually reduce taxes this year.

In Bergen County, 21 percent of the towns kept their tax levy increase at or below 4 percent. In Passaic County, 19 percent met the mandate, designated by Governor Corzine. Towns were granted waivers to exceed the cap for costs deemed out of their control, such as decreases in state aid and increased health care costs.

But residential property tax bills did not rise as quickly as they had in recent years, increasing statewide by an average of 3.7 percent in 2008. Still, homeowners reached an unwelcome level for the first time: Average tax bills topped $7,000 in 2008, data released by the state Department of Community Affairs show.

For strapped homeowners, joy over a smaller increase in 2008 is "tempered by the realities of the circumstances," said Jerry Cantrell, president of the New Jersey Taxpayers Association.

For Bergen, that means that 79% of towns exceeded the limit.

One of the biggest reasons for the tax hikes? Pension costs. Nothing in the state budget or the local budgets has been done to address this structural cost - a deficit that will continue growing as the state continues to operate as though pensions are a birthright to any state worker, regardless of the ultimate cost to taxpayers. At a time when the private sector has moved away from defined benefit plans (pensions) to defined contribution plans (401k), the state and local governments continue bowing to the pressure from the unions to preserve this regardless of the cost.

Adding to the mess is the fact that the Corzine Administration is arbitrarily and capriciously cutting aid to many localities all while increasing funding to others. Well, it's not exactly arbitrary. Urban areas are often seeing increased aid at a time when more affluent areas are being told to do more with less. It's redistribution of wealth, and it's a key feature of the Corzine economic "plan."