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Author Message   cjc Citizen Username: Cjc Post Number: 5329 Registered: 8-2003 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 1:50 pm:        We all need to sacrifice. There's a war going on. Corzine mulls tax increase of $1.5 billion By JONATHAN TAMARI Gannett State Bureau TRENTON -- Gov. Jon S. Corzine and his advisers are considering plans that could increase taxes by about $1.5 billion, three people familiar with the administration's thinking said. Tax increases under consideration include raising the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent, expanding the sales tax to cover more items or placing a surcharge on existing income taxes, or a combination of those options, said two of the sources, who spoke to Gannett New Jersey on the condition of anonymity. All three people, and several others, said the administration has not finalized its decisions, even though Corzine is just a week from introducing his first budget. The administration would not confirm nor deny the size of the tax increase being contemplated. "We have nothing to announce at this time," Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said. The budget is scheduled to be introduced March 21, but lawmakers will review the proposal and have until July 1 to complete the spending plan. Corzine has touted a looming $4.5 billion structural deficit in the budget, and people close to the budget have said about half of that amount is expected to be made up through budget cuts and efficiencies. Corzine, however, has said cuts alone would be unlikely to close the gap. Corzine, citing a financial "disaster" years in the making, has warned for weeks about impending budget pain. A group of his advisers cited a sales tax expansion and tax surcharge as potential budget fixes as early as January. Corzine also has publicly mentioned a gross receipts tax increase that would be assessed on businesses as a possible source of revenue. Then-Gov. Richard J. Codey, now Senate president, proposed expanding the sales tax last year in a move that would have raised $275 million. It would have added the 6 percent tax to items such as parking fees, massages, tanning sessions, storage facilities and downloaded music, movies and software in what was touted as a move for fairness. The current 6 percent sales tax is expected to bring in $6.8 billion this year. Part of Corzine's projected deficit comes from campaign pledges to fully fund the state's current pension obligations and increase property tax rebates to previous levels. Both plans would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but Corzine recently indicated that full pension funding is not necessarily a given, this year.   Innisowen Citizen Username: Innisowen Post Number: 1668 Registered: 3-2004 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 2:13 pm:        Yes, there's a war going on, but one would never know it by the devil-may-care fiscal attitudes rampant in the nation's capital, under the aegis of the ruling party. To be equally devil-may-care, Corzine could find a way to "throw" the unfunded pension obligations over to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, as United Airlines and a number of large corporations have done. That's a nice way to increase the Federal Government's expenditure load. While he's at it, he could throw the entire pension obligation there, as WCI Steel would like to do, as Rhodes of Atlanta has done. And he could opt to be fiscally irresponsible (you know, do in Drumthwacket what GWB has done in the White House) and permit an enormous state deficit and indebtedness to pile up and let future generations fret about it. "What? Me Worry?" is probably not Corzine's fiscal maxim, even though it appears to be SOP in the top echelons of the federal level.   Ace789nj Citizen Username: Ace789nj Post Number: 318 Registered: 2-2005 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 2:15 pm:        Why don't they just hook us up to IV's and suck our foh-keen souls out, it'll be less painful   cjc Citizen Username: Cjc Post Number: 5331 Registered: 8-2003 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 3:09 pm:        I agree, Innis. The Democrats were masterful in their solutions to Social Security, and I think that same thinking should take the lead on pensions, Medicare and other obligations previous Administrations have made and expanded while knowingly placing the burden on future generations. The voting public isn't innocent either. They just 'want theirs' and they don't care who pays for it so long as it's not them. At some point the realization that these promises can't be kept will arrive. It will happen in New Jersey later than in other areas.   Innisowen Citizen Username: Innisowen Post Number: 1669 Registered: 3-2004 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 3:11 pm:        Yes, there's a war going on, but one would never know it by the devil-may-care fiscal attitudes rampant in the nation's capital, under the aegis of the ruling party. To be equally devil-may-care, Corzine could find a way to "throw" the unfunded pension obligations over to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, as United Airlines and a number of large corporations have done. That's a nice way to increase the Federal Government's expenditure load. While he's at it, he could throw the entire pension obligation there, as WCI Steel would like to do, as Rhodes of Atlanta has done. And he could opt to be fiscally irresponsible (you know, do in Drumthwacket what GWB has done in the White House) and permit an enormous state deficit and indebtedness to pile up and let future generations fret about it. "What? Me Worry?" is probably not Corzine's fiscal maxim, even though it appears to be SOP in the top echelons of the federal level.   Innisowen Citizen Username: Innisowen Post Number: 1670 Registered: 3-2004 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 3:12 pm:        Sorry, all. I do not know how that second and repetitive post crept in.   dave23 Citizen Username: Dave23 Post Number: 1475 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 3:18 pm:        If only the red states would pull their own weight, maybe NJ could get more of what we pay to the Feds back.   Hoops Citizen Username: Hoops Post Number: 917 Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 3:23 pm:        It was worth repeating.   cjc Citizen Username: Cjc Post Number: 5333 Registered: 8-2003 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 3:23 pm:        Right, so they could hand it off to people in NJ that don't pull their own weight.   peteglider Citizen Username: Peteglider Post Number: 1858 Registered: 8-2002 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 3:29 pm:        we're struggling with the debt that started mushrooming under the Kean and most notably the Whitman era. We'll see a repeat nationally in 10 - 20 years relative to the absurb debt Bush is piling on right now. Someone's going to pay -- and it'll come down to us. Pete   Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 12933 Registered: 1-2003 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 3:32 pm:        cjc, are you missing Innisowen's point? Corzine is balancing a budget, and Bush doesn't bother, to make a gross understatement. Which action is more admirable? I wonder if it's possible for unelected citizens to get involved in the NJ state budget process. I'm sure there's more to it than we can imagine. Sounds like handling the budget is hard. Harder than sarcastic statements about how we don't pay enough taxes. I hope we raise income taxes rather than sales tax. I consider sales tax to be regressive.   dave23 Citizen Username: Dave23 Post Number: 1476 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 3:33 pm:        Or shore up the deficit and increase property tax rebates. Either way, the Republican states are not holding up their end of the bargain.   Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 12934 Registered: 1-2003 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 3:37 pm:        Hmm, I remember just a couple of years ago the Bush apostles giving Bush credit for surpluses in state budgets across the country. Now that things have gone south, it's not the Bush administration's fault. Fancy that! The good things are to his credit but the bad things are not to his blame.   Guy Supporter Username: Vandalay Post Number: 1654 Registered: 8-2004 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 3:46 pm:        Tom, New Jersey is one of the few states that is not in surplus. This is the state's fault. As a aside, federal tax revenues are up 12% year over year.   Southerner Citizen Username: Southerner Post Number: 826 Registered: 2-2004 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 8:17 pm:        Who's smarter? The state that pays their own freight or the state that gets another state to pay their own freight? The rest of us need your help and ideas. Please make the check payable to "Red State America" or "Electorally Rich America". Either way it will get cashed and used. I hear Stevens needs a new bridge.   Jgberkeley Citizen Username: Jgberkeley Post Number: 4486 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 8:23 pm:        Hey, We all voted him in, so let him raise the taxes to solve the problems he has found. It is that simple, you can not change it, so adjust your living to pay the bill.   cjc Citizen Username: Cjc Post Number: 5334 Registered: 8-2003 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 9:40 pm:        What about reducing spending as a concept? When you don't have enough money in your house, do you spend less, or do you ring up debt, or vote for someone to raise taxes on other people and convert their money into services for your benefit?   Thenewguy Citizen Username: Thenewguy Post Number: 106 Registered: 4-2004 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 10:22 pm:        CJC, Americans ring up debt to pay for what they don't have, as indicated by the negative savings rate.   John Citizen Username: Jdm Post Number: 4 Registered: 3-2006 Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 10:44 pm:        Guy, Do we get to count the tax revenue from the first years of the Bush presidency? It went down in the first three. As a percentage of the GDP it also went down, though has been creeping up since. OTOH, Federal expenditures are up. In fact, they're higher than revenues. In fact, expenditures have gone up every year since Bush took office. (This continues a long-running trend, of course. The last year this didn't happen was '93.) Frankly I'm not quite sure why revenue matters. If you believe that the gov't should keep its hands out of our pockets, then fed revenue should decrease, not increase. Likewise if you believe that the gov't should be smaller, than the expenditures should be smaller. Many of course believe that the gov't should have to keep its books balanced, at least in the long term. Many states require such balance annually. Once upon a time, "Conservative" included fiscal matters.   Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 12946 Registered: 1-2003 Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 7:07 am:        No, I believe ALL states must balance their books. The federal government doesn't have to. I think that's as it should be, for both cases, but there is responsible deficit spending, and there's irresponsible deficit spending.   dave23 Citizen Username: Dave23 Post Number: 1483 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 10:01 am:        Southerner, The state that has the educated populace, sound economy and strong work ethic is the smarter one. And the state that knows that government provides essential services--services that must be paid for--is the smarter one. The state that promotes self-responsibility while taking from other states is hypocritical and self-deluded. In short: A leech is a leech.   Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 12951 Registered: 1-2003 Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 10:03 am:        I bet you thought that was clever, Southerner. Aren't the red staters the people who hate sponges? What's to be proud of?   cjc Citizen Username: Cjc Post Number: 5338 Registered: 8-2003 Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 10:56 am:        A state that provides 'essential services' like Social Security, Medicare and other entitlements as they are currently structured that Bernanke testified were imperiling our standard of living going forward is NOT a 'smart state.' The weight of the obligations NJ has taken on doesn't really point to NJ being 'smart.' The government subsidies and welfare payments to red states are an outgrowth of brilliant welfare thinking that pervades much of the blue states. Unfortunately, it's quite addictive as many blue-staters know My red-staters have let me down on that front. Which again reinforces my contention that it doesn't matter how smart you are if you don't think.   dave23 Citizen Username: Dave23 Post Number: 1486 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 11:05 am:        cjc, I was only using 'smart' in response to Southerner's contention that the leeches are smarter than the hosts. Alleging that the red-state addiction to blue-state money is "an outgrowth" of blue-state thinking is weak and innacurate. It's pure victimization bs. It's time that they owned up to their hypocritical nature and stop blaming others for their addictions. They need to lead by example. But they won't.   cjc Citizen Username: Cjc Post Number: 5339 Registered: 8-2003 Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 11:06 am:        This is what smart states do: Crisis at School Agency Reflects Missteps, Trenton Says By TINA KELLEY NEWARK, March 14 — In this city's Ironbound section, the principal of the Hawkins Street School keeps in his office an artist's rendering of an annex that was supposed to be added years ago. It is a reminder to him every day of the possibilities for space and technology that have been denied to the 575 students in the elementary school. "The beef," said the principal, Joseph Rendeiro, "is that we have a school that is 100 years old and trying to meet the needs of the 21st century. It's been a challenge." Over the past four months, an increasingly disturbing picture has emerged, showing opportunities and dollars frittered away by the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation while thousands of students, like those at the Hawkins Street School, try to learn in outdated or overcrowded schools. The agency, created to build schools primarily in the state's poorest districts, has already spent $3.1 billion in those districts, where it built 31 schools. Last summer, the corporation said its $8.6 billion construction budget, which included more than $2 billion for suburban schools, would cover only half the projects it had expected. But even more disturbing to school and elected officials, as well as taxpayers, are some of the reasons the agency has fallen short. On Wednesday, Gov. Jon S. Corzine is expected to propose changes to the Schools Construction Corporation, when he releases a report from a committee he appointed to study its problems. The committee, it seems, had its work cut out for it. Recent reports by the state auditor and the inspector general found lax fiscal oversight at the agency and fiascos in school construction: a partly built school now scheduled for demolition on a contaminated site in Trenton; a planned school just yards from a theater that had featured pornographic films in Passaic; and property in Union City, intended for a school, which quadrupled in price after an apartment building rose on it. A report by the state auditor released last week found that even basic safeguards of the public's money were not maintained, with the agency relying heavily on private contractors to manage projects. In those firms, the report found, "direct salaries were marked up by 94 to 192 percent for the cost of employee benefits, indirect costs and profit." The report, which covered the period since April 2005, also noted that in two cases, construction managers were paid 40 percent of their construction supervision fees before construction contracts were awarded. It also found that 60 change orders, totaling $45 million, were allowed, using questionable interpretations. Its recommendations sounded more like steps one might take to establish a construction agency, rather than to reform one, and include items that might have been obvious to a first-year accounting student, like creating a strategic plan; paying for work after it is completed, not before; keeping track of checks; and actually cashing them. Land acquisition for a school should come before architectural drawings, it noted: "It would be more prudent to decide what and where to build before it is designed." But it is hardly the only document critical of the agency. In a Jan. 12 report, the Office of the Inspector General cited a case in which a vendor may have been paid up to $3.4 million more than the fee approved by the agency's board. The inspector also found that school construction employees had created false documents indicating that board approval was not required for the fees stipulated, and that the employees had also expedited a bill from the management firm for $1.6 million by breaking it into four invoices, for which no documentation was provided. Neither the auditor's office nor the inspector general's office would release the names of specific vendors or projects, saying the investigations were continuing. Assemblyman William D. Payne, who represents most of Newark and all of Hillside, called it criminal that the state could not yet provide adequate educational facilities for poor children almost 40 years after the beginning of the Abbott v. Burke case, a state Supreme Court decision that ordered the state to increase financing for urban districts to bring them up to a par with suburban districts. "Money was wasted because of a lack of proper management and tremendous inefficiencies, and there was no oversight," he said, adding that management costs for schools in Abbott districts under the construction corporation were 45 percent higher than in other districts. "They went into the candy jar and took out as much as they could," he said. The Schools Construction Corporation was created in 2002 by Gov. James E. McGreevey after the state Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that school facilities in poor districts should be comparable to those in rich districts. But in March 2005, the inspector general recommended that the agency stop spending money until it adopted internal reforms, saying it was "vulnerable to mismanagement, fiscal malfeasance, conflicts of interest and waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars." In July, the agency announced that it was running out of money after building just an eighth of the schools on its list. Scott A. Weiner, the governor's special counsel for school construction, who on Monday took over as the transitional chief executive of the corporation — its fourth leader in five years — said the agency had built "a very credibly reliable system of financial management and control" since last summer, when Gov. Richard J. Codey turned his attention to problems in the agency. The report being released by Governor Corzine on Wednesday is expected to include recommendations to tighten the controls further, and possibly to reorganize the Schools Construction Corporation, perhaps within another state agency. But for Dr. Robert Holster, superintendent of the Passaic public schools, who is waiting for four schools to be built, the clock is ticking. Fewer than half of his elementary schools have libraries, he said, and few have labs. "We've got to be on the same playing field as every other child," Dr. Holster said.