Governor Christie Can Slash Mandates and Free Local Leaders To Trim Property Taxes
In order to deliver on the promises of tax relief and frugal management, we recognize the challenges Governor-elect Christie will face. He will need to tackle the factors that drive public spending. Unfunded state mandates increase local government costs and force local budget-makers to address a laundry list of state priorities before, and often to the detriment of, local needs for vital municipal programs and services. These mandates include state required training for local officials and employees, state required reporting and permitting and state required services and programs. They have built up, over the years, with no attention paid, at the State level, to their cumulative impact on local budgets.
In April, New York Governor David Paterson issued an Executive Order aimed at reducing the costs of government and providing property tax relief. The Order requires State agencies to document the costs of any new regulatory and statutory initiatives, to conduct an honest cost-benefit analysis, to demonstrate the participation of local governments in the process and to propose sources of revenue to fund the new mandate. It also directs all state agencies to review all their existing regulations and to report back to the Governor with change proposals “... which could reduce the impact of existing mandates on local governments and generate property tax relief for New York State property taxpayers.”
Here are just a few of the mandates such a review would uncover here in our Garden State.
Affordable Housing - New Jersey needs more affordable housing But the assessments and calculations mandated by the Council On Affordable Housing are unreasonable and unattainable. New Jersey municipalities have already spent tens of thousands of dollars, and in some hundreds of thousands of dollars, preparing plans based on faulty data, and on projections that conflict with other State planning priorities. With two dozen current appeals of the COAH third round regulations pending, it seems like that local governments will again be forced to expend resources to prepare new plans. The Christie Administration must reform the COAH process to harmonize affordable housing policy with other State planning priorities and to reduce the financial obligation on our taxpayers.
Police and Fire Contract Arbitration - This process allows a police or fire union to bring in a third-party whenever economic issues, such as salary percentage increases and shift and rank differentials, remain unresolved after at least three negotiation sessions. The arbitrator, then, has the power to impose the terms of a new contract. Currently, arbitrators function without supervision or control. Although the statute has criteria dealing with ability to pay, and requires a measurement of the “total net annual economic change” for each year of the contract, these often receive little attention. Almost all local government employees have benefited from this. At times, other unions will wait for the municipality to settle with the police or fire union prior to negotiating, so as not to “lose out” on any benefits, including percentage increases, given to the police or fire unions.
Civil Service – The voters of a municipality can choose to place their public employees into the civil service system. However, once they make that decision, the State statute mandates that future generations of municipal citizens are bound by it. “We the people” can amend our Constitution but we cannot rescind a personnel policy decision made decades ago and get out of the civil service system. The requirements imposed on local management by civil service rules, and the rights that employees enjoy in the civil service system, increase local personnel costs and limited the municipality’s ability to share services.
Stormwater Regulations – The Municipal Stormwater Regulations address stormwater quality issues related to new development, redevelopment and existing development by requiring regulated entities to implement Statewide Basic Requirements. The regulations include requirements for municipalities to distribute an annual notice to residents on stormwater management, to label catch basins, to reclaim water from washing municipal vehicles, to adopt and enforce stormwater control ordinances, and to construct salt storage structures.
More than ever, in tough economic times, the people of New Jersey need property tax relief. They will get it when the State gives us relief from unfunded mandates.
