Selling a fantasy

Groups whose interests are served by the way New Jersey governments spend public dollars are stepping up their fight against a constitutional convention that would be elected by the people to reduce local property taxes - especially one that would be permitted to recommend changes affecting those spending decisions.

In their effort to preserve the status quo, these groups are peddling a fantasy scenario. It is that New Jersey's Legislature, after decades of refusing to enact meaningful tax reform, actually can and will do it now, and that therefore there is no need for a constitutional convention.

The New Jersey Education Association, the NAACP and the Education Law Center are spearheading this effort. They have unveiled a tax-reform plan of their own, which they urge the Legislature to consider in a special session rather than authorize a statewide referendum next November on whether to summon a convention. Their plan, which the coalition says would reduce property taxes for eight in 10 New Jerseyans, calls for a statutory "circuit breaker" that would cap property taxes at 5 percent of income for people earning up to $100,000 and at 6 percent for those earning between $100,000 and $200,000. The money to underwrite these caps would come from eliminating the Homestead and NJSaver rebates and increasing the state income tax for middle-income and upper-income residents.

These ideas wouldn't necessarily be bad ones - if they were incorporated in an overall tax reform plan that was revenue-neutral, i.e. didn't increase the total sum of state and local taxes levied in New Jersey, and were accompanied by a constitutional mechanism to ensure that any reductions in property taxes were long-term. That's the kind of comprehensive plan a convention would be charged with developing.

Because the delegates would be elected once and for one purpose only, they would be insulated from the kind of political pressures that hamstring legislators and governors looking ahead to the next election. Because at the end the convention's work would be subject to another statewide referendum, the ultimate responsibility for its enactment or rejection would be the people's. The prospect of subjecting a system that currently satisfies their short-term interests to possible revision at the hands of independent delegates and independent voters helps explain why the NAACP, the Education Law Center, the NJEA et al are so resistant to the idea of a convention.

The New Jersey State League of Municipalities, a long-time supporter of the convention plan, has an appropriate answer to the coalition's campaign:

Don't let anybody tell you that movement toward a property-tax convention precludes the possibility of legislative progress. The introduction and legislative action on a special property tax convention bill will do nothing to prevent the unanticipated, unprecedented and highly unlikely prospect that the Legislature just might decide, at long last, to lance this festering sore on the body politic. All [that] action on a convention bill will do is set a time limit.

The Legislature will have until Election Day 2005 to convince the people of New Jersey that they do not need a special convention to get true property tax reform. If they can do that, there will be no special convention. If they cannot, then there has to be one.

Selling a fantasy Trenton Times Sunday, January 23, 2005 BY EDITORIAL Groups whose interests are served by the way New Jersey governments spend public dollars are stepping up their fight against a constitutional convention that would be elected by the people to reduce local property taxes - especially one that would be permitted to recommend changes affecting those spending decisions. In their effort to preserve the status quo, these groups are peddling a fantasy scenario. It is that New Jersey's Legislature, after decades of refusing to enact meaningful tax reform, actually can and will do it now, and that therefore there is no need for a constitutional convention. The New Jersey Education Association, the NAACP and the Education Law Center are spearheading this effort. They have unveiled a tax-reform plan of their own, which they urge the Legislature to consider in a special session rather than authorize a statewide referendum next November on whether to summon a convention. Their plan, which the coalition says would reduce property taxes for eight in 10 New Jerseyans, calls for a statutory "circuit breaker" that would cap property taxes at 5 percent of income for people earning up to $100,000 and at 6 percent for those earning between $100,000 and $200,000. The money to underwrite these caps would come from eliminating the Homestead and NJSaver rebates and increasing the state income tax for middle-income and upper-income residents. These ideas wouldn't necessarily be bad ones - if they were incorporated in an overall tax reform plan that was revenue-neutral, i.e. didn't increase the total sum of state and local taxes levied in New Jersey, and were accompanied by a constitutional mechanism to ensure that any reductions in property taxes were long-term. That's the kind of comprehensive plan a convention would be charged with developing. Because the delegates would be elected once and for one purpose only, they would be insulated from the kind of political pressures that hamstring legislators and governors looking ahead to the next election. Because at the end the convention's work would be subject to another statewide referendum, the ultimate responsibility for its enactment or rejection would be the people's. The prospect of subjecting a system that currently satisfies their short-term interests to possible revision at the hands of independent delegates and independent voters helps explain why the NAACP, the Education Law Center, the NJEA et al are so resistant to the idea of a convention. The New Jersey State League of Municipalities, a long-time supporter of the convention plan, has an appropriate answer to the coalition's campaign: Don't let anybody tell you that movement toward a property-tax convention precludes the possibility of legislative progress. The introduction and legislative action on a special property tax convention bill will do nothing to prevent the unanticipated, unprecedented and highly unlikely prospect that the Legislature just might decide, at long last, to lance this festering sore on the body politic. All [that] action on a convention bill will do is set a time limit. The Legislature will have until Election Day 2005 to convince the people of New Jersey that they do not need a special convention to get true property tax reform. If they can do that, there will be no special convention. If they cannot, then there has to be one. Copyright 2005 NJ.com. All Rights Reserved.