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| As you read these lines, the people of New Jersey are preparing to choose their representatives in New Jersey's 211th Legislature. Unfortunately, they will not have the opportunity to decide if they would like to have a special convention propose solutions to our chronic over-reliance on regressive property taxes. That opportunity was denied them, when the Senate refused to re-convene to vote on SCR-78 and A-540/S-478, last July.
As most of you know, those bills are designed to break the legislative logjam that has held back property tax reform measures for decades. The Assembly passed A540 in June. But the Senate adjourned without action. We wrote to the Senate Presidents asking them to call their House back. We wrote to the Governor asking him to call a special session. We held a rally on the State House steps, where Mayors from all around the state were joined by concerned citizens. All of this, supplemented by the courageous advocacy of Senators John Adler, Bob Martin, Bob Singer, Pete Inverso and George Geist and Assembly Members Joe Roberts, Linda Greenstein, Ron Dancer, Peter Barnes, Joe Cryan and others, was to no avail.
A prevailing sentiment among the opponents of a special convention could be summed up as follows. ''We legislators were elected to deal with, among other things, property tax reform. We can do it ourselves. We don't want a special convention and you don't need one."
We'd like to be able to say that the next Legislature will have to address this issue. But, of course, they don't have to do anything. |
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We can't argue with any of that... until you get to the last clause. We believe that the people of New Jersey do need a special convention to address this chronic problem. We'd be happy to be proven wrong. However, we've seen nothing to date to cause us any doubt.
We'd like to be able to say that the next Legislature will have to address this issue. But, of course, they don't have to do anything. Once elected, they'll have the power to act. But they'll also have the power to stand (or maybe we could better say "sit") on their prerogatives, and let another two years go by with more seniors forced to leave the houses and the communities they call home - with more young couples forced to defer their hopes of realizing the American Dream of home ownership - and with more local officials forced to leave jobs vacant and to delay needed investments in their local infrastructures.
Election Day is November 4. On that day, New Jersey can take the next first step toward property tax reform.
Our Conference begins on November 18. Then, the journey continues.
Many sessions will help you to learn what more you can do to control property taxes. Some other sessions might help to bring reform prospects into clearer focus. On Wednesday afternoon, for example, in Room 201 of the Convention Center, our Legislative Leaders will address municipal concerns. It will be interesting to hear what they have to say.
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FROM
407 WEST
STATE STREET..... |
|
| As you read these lines, the people of New Jersey are preparing to choose their representatives in New Jersey's 211th Legislature. Unfortunately, they will not have the opportunity to decide if they would like to have a special convention propose solutions to our chronic over-reliance on regressive property taxes. That opportunity was denied them, when the Senate refused to re-convene to vote on SCR-78 and A-540/S-478, last July.
As most of you know, those bills are designed to break the legislative logjam that has held back property tax reform measures for decades. The Assembly passed A540 in June. But the Senate adjourned without action. We wrote to the Senate Presidents asking them to call their House back. We wrote to the Governor asking him to call a special session. We held a rally on the State House steps, where Mayors from all around the state were joined by concerned citizens. All of this, supplemented by the courageous advocacy of Senators John Adler, Bob Martin, Bob Singer, Pete Inverso and George Geist and Assembly Members Joe Roberts, Linda Greenstein, Ron Dancer, Peter Barnes, Joe Cryan and others, was to no avail.
A prevailing sentiment among the opponents of a special convention could be summed up as follows. ''We legislators were elected to deal with, among other things, property tax reform. We can do it ourselves. We don't want a special convention and you don't need one."
We'd like to be able to say that the next Legislature will have to address this issue. But, of course, they don't have to do anything. |
|
We can't argue with any of that... until you get to the last clause. We believe that the people of New Jersey do need a special convention to address this chronic problem. We'd be happy to be proven wrong. However, we've seen nothing to date to cause us any doubt.
We'd like to be able to say that the next Legislature will have to address this issue. But, of course, they don't have to do anything. Once elected, they'll have the power to act. But they'll also have the power to stand (or maybe we could better say "sit") on their prerogatives, and let another two years go by with more seniors forced to leave the houses and the communities they call home - with more young couples forced to defer their hopes of realizing the American Dream of home ownership - and with more local officials forced to leave jobs vacant and to delay needed investments in their local infrastructures.
Election Day is November 4. On that day, New Jersey can take the next first step toward property tax reform.
Our Conference begins on November 18. Then, the journey continues.
Many sessions will help you to learn what more you can do to control property taxes. Some other sessions might help to bring reform prospects into clearer focus. On Wednesday afternoon, for example, in Room 201 of the Convention Center, our Legislative Leaders will address municipal concerns. It will be interesting to hear what they have to say.
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