Governor, Democratic legislators blame each other as property taxes keep increasing
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie holds a town hall meeting at Hollow Brook Community Center in Ewing in October 2010.TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie challenged lawmakers last May to pass a series of bills he said would lower property taxes, but a year later, with only some of the reforms enacted, property taxes are up $1 billion.
Depending on who’s talking, the impasse on Christie’s reform package — what he calls the “tool kit” — speaks to either the governor’s poor vision and execution, or the Legislature’s lack of urgency and political courage.
Although some big pieces of his reform effort have been enacted, Christie has repeatedly criticized lawmakers in recent weeks for failing to clear the remaining bills. He labels them “do-nothing” legislators who get poor grades for choosing special interests over lower property taxes.
“I gave them, for the tool kit, since they passed some of it, 25 percent, I gave them an incomplete,” Christie said earlier this week during a town hall meeting in Monmouth County.
He then urged those in attendance to send this message to Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex): “Get to work on the governor’s reform package.”
But Democratic legislative leaders counter Christie by blaming him for both designing a flawed blueprint to lower property taxes, and for being unwilling to compromise on some of the measures that lawmakers have advanced with amendments.
“We did the things that actually had impacts,” Sweeney said during a recent meeting with reporters. “Governor, you do own the property tax problem now.”
Regardless of which is side is right, property owners in New Jersey continue to be the losers during the yearlong debate because they are stuck with average annual property tax bills that continue to rise toward $10,000.
The average property tax bill in New Jersey increased last year by $295 to a record high of $7,576. And that increase came during a year that saw Christie and lawmakers pass a state budget that replaced $1,000 property tax rebate checks with a small credit that wasn’t realized until earlier this year.
Once again, each side is blaming the other for the increase in property tax bills.
Christie says the Democrats own the increase because they haven’t moved all of his legislation. Democrats say Christie’s bills, even if passed, would have had a marginal effect at best in the face of state school aid cuts and the loss of the rebates.
Here’s a look at where things stand right now with the key pieces of Christie’s proposed “tool kit” reforms.
What’s passed
Tax cap: Christie proposed in his reform package several bills that were tied to a hard cap on local property tax increases. After negotiating with Sweeney and Oliver, D-Essex, the Legislature passed a bill last summer that caps annual local property tax hikes at 2 percent, with some exceptions, including health care and pension benefits for public workers. The new cap went into effect on Jan. 1.
Arbitration reform: Christie and the legislative leaders also reached a compromise late last year on the rules that come into play when towns and their police and firefighter unions cannot reach a deal on a new labor contract. Local officials have complained for years that the rules were skewed too much in favor of the unions to the detriment of taxpayers and the changes enacted last year attempt to level the field by restraining arbitrators and capping, at 2 percent, the compensation increases they can award.
State mandates: Local officials have also long complained that the state is forcing them to spend too much money on items the Legislature has previously deemed mandatory, regardless of the burden on taxpayers. Bipartisan legislation that makes it easier to challenge mandates was passed and signed into law late last year.
What’s stalled
Sick leave payout cap: Christie proposed capping payouts that public workers earn for not using all of their sick leave and vacation days, citing the millions of dollars towns pay every year to retiring employees for this extra perk. The Legislature passed a bill last year that would tighten the rules, but the governor conditionally vetoed the measure, saying it doesn’t go far enough. The Legislature has yet to consider his veto, but there has been talk of a compromise.
Lobbyists in the pension: Christie’s proposal would also eliminate state pension eligibility for some lobbyists and other non-state employees who are enrolled in the pension system. It was put forward after a series of articles in The Record exposed how members of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, New Jersey Association of Counties and New Jersey School Boards Association receive state pensions costing taxpayers more than $1 million annually. The bill passed in the Senate, but has not come up for a vote in the Assembly.
Civil service reform: The governor is also seeking to relax civil service rules that protect public workers, but can also, as some argue, increase the cost of local government. A version of civil service reform cleared the Legislature late last year, but Christie vetoed it. Sweeney is now questioning whether changing civil service rules would have a measurable effect on property taxes, citing an analysis prepared by his office that shows the towns that have civil service rules have lower per-capita property tax bills than those that do not.
What they’re saying
Property taxes rose by a combined $1 billion in 2010 as Christie and Democratic legislative leaders worked on a package of legislation put forward by the governor last May that was designed to reduce local tax bills. A year later, some major pieces have been enacted, but others are stalled.
Here’s a look at what both sides said about Christie’s proposals last May, foreshadowing the stalemate that exists now.
Christie: “Today we take an important step closer to lasting property tax relief. I am committed to working with the Legislature so we can act and get this done to finally fulfill a long overdue obligation to the people of New Jersey to bring property taxes under control.”
Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester): “We’re going to work with him. We’re going to provide him a tool kit, as he says, for these communities. It’s not necessarily going to be exactly what he says.”
Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex): “Some of these are radical proposals. Legislators need to be thoroughly versed on them.”