NYT article on taxes and NJ suburbs

Log Out | Lost Password? | Topics | Search Contact | Register | My Profile | SO home | MOL home

Thread Originator Last Poster Posts Pages Last Post   Closed: New threads not accepted on this page

Author Message   hello Citizen Username: Hello Post Number: 47 Registered: 7-2003 Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 4:23 am:        http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/13/nyregion/13SUBU.html?hp   harpo Citizen Username: Harpo Post Number: 906 Registered: 6-2001 Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 10:38 am:        Crucial excerpt: "Professor Orfield said that people on all sides of the issue have a common enemy: the property tax. "A few states, notably Michigan, have shifted substantial educational costs from local governments to the state, easing the competition between local governments to maximize revenue and minimize school populations. "In the suburban counties in New York State, many towns have property taxes at least as high as those in New Jersey, but planners say the band of rapidly developing suburbs is smaller and the issue of school populations less volatile. "Dean Blakely said: 'Most of the people who have kids are moving to Jersey now. There's more land, it's cheaper, the transportation is good, and that's where the jobs are anyway.' "Connecticut, one of the few states that ranks above New Jersey in its schools' reliance on property taxes, has similar problems, said Richard Porth, the director of the Capital Regional Council of Governments in Hartford. 'The way that New Jersey and Connecticut and some other states rely on the property tax to pay for education hurts us in 100 ways,' Mr. Porth said. "In New Jersey, the pressures on middle-class towns are aggravated by the state school-aid formula, which provides nearly full financing for the 30 neediest districts and scales back payments to the more affluent, including many suburban districts whose schools are most in demand." I hope every voter understands this clearly and supports the multiple efforts underway to compel the New Jersey state legislature to deal with the over-reliance on the property tax, which includes supporting the call for a Constitutional Convention. The machine-influenced politicians of both parties have a selfish stake in preserving the status quo and have begun mouthing a whole variety excuses for not doing the right thing. Don't let them off the hook. It's not in your or your kids' interests in any way.