Dear Mayor:

Today in Trenton, the New Jersey Coalition for the Public Good released the findings and conclusions of June's Citizens' Tax Assembly. That group - the Citizens' Assembly - was composed of interested citizens from all around the State and from all walks of life.

The report details conclusions reached by the delegates at a meeting held in June. Those conclusions include a call to reduce New Jersey's over-reliance to property taxes, from over 45% of total public revenues, to the national average of about 30%.

We welcome the work of the Citizens' Tax Assembly. It will greatly assist the soon-to-be-empanelled Property Tax Convention Task Force, as it meets to shape a convention bill for the Legislature's consideration, early next year.

That Task Force was created by legislation passed earlier this year. The bill, which was sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Roberts and Senator Adler, was a component of the Governor's FAIR Plan. It was supported by key Senate and Assembly Leaders.

The Coalition also announced that they have scheduled Regional Assemblies for Tax Reform.

Anyone who was NOT a delegate to either of the Assemblies held in Trenton - the first was last September, which was followed by the June meeting - can ask to be considered for one of the Regional Assemblies. If you want to have the chance to participate in one of those sessions (schedule below) just call Lorraine Kulick at the Coalition at 609-921-0865 or email her at newjerseycpg@yahoo.com.

The sessions will be held on Saturday mornings and afternoons on:

• September 25 at the Morris County Cultural Center in Morristown
  
  

• October 9 at the Bloustein School at Rutgers in New Brunswick

• October 16 at Jersey City State U. in Jersey City

• October 30 at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Cherry Hill
  

The Coalition will compile a list of those interested, from which will come 50-60 participants for each session. The selection process aims at effective representation of the general population and takes into account gender, race, age, employment, etc., in order to ensure against any group (teachers, public employees, elected officials, senior citizens) "packing" a session to dictate an outcome.

Please let us know, via e-mail, if you apply and again if you are selected. The success of the Citizens' Assembly proves that a special convention will do more than let the people talk about the problem. It will, in fact, let the people guide us to meaningful and lasting reforms.