New Jersey property taxes will likely resume the double digit annual growth that occurred under the McGreevey, Codey and Corzine Administrations if Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto’s version of the of the Interest Arbitration extension becomes law. Either that, or municipal governments as we know them will cease to exist, succumbing to a long and painful death of higher crime and reduced services and capital improvements.
A 2% cap on interest arbitration awards in labor disputes was a key component of the 2% property tax cap negotiated between Governor Chris Christie, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Prieto’s predecessor, Sheila Oliver in 2010. It worked. Arbitrators made awards of less that 2% to police and fire fighters unions and property taxes rose less than 2% per year over the last four years.
The problem is Oliver insisted that the arbitration cap expire on April 1, 2014. Now, we’re a week before the arbitration cap expires and Prietro is gutting the cap by passing an extension of the law that exempts contracts that were awarded less than 2% during the last three years from any future caps and raises the cap to 3% on contracts that have not been negotiated since 2010.
The math will never work. If property taxes stay capped at 2% but the primary cost of property taxes, salaries, are not capped or are capped at 3%, municipal services will disappear. Police will be laid off, with the junior, lower paid officers being let go first, leaving the older and more highly paid officers to run drown the inevitable increase in crime. Towns will go bust. The state will take over municipal governments and force consolidations.
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Posted: March 24th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Chris Christie, Declan O'Scanlon, NJ State Legislature, Property Tax Tool Kit, Property Taxes | Tags: Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, Interest Arbitration Cap, NJ Legislature, Property Tax Cap, Property Tax Tool Kit, Property Taxes, Senator Michael Doherty, Steve Sweeney | 7 Comments »
Monmouth County Freeholder Serena DiMaso, Keansburg Deputy Mayor Jimmy Cocuzza, Congressman Frank Pallone and Senate President Steve Sweeney talk before Sweeney’s Town Hall Meeting in Keansburg. Pallone was not impressed. Click for larger view.
Senate President Steve Sweeney told MMM today that he expects a key provision of New Jersey’s 2% property tax cap that is set to expire on April 1 to be extended.
The interest arbitration provision of the property tax reforms passed with bi-partisan support three years ago caps arbitration awards in government labor disputes to 2%. Since they’ve been implemented the average arbitration award resulted in salary increases for local government employees to 1.86%–the lowest in 20 years. The provision will expire on April 1 unless extended by legislation.
“It’s my bill,” Sweeney said, “I’ll pass it next week.” Ask if the arbitration cap would become permanent or extended with another sunset provision, Sweeney said, “That’s what we’re working on now. I’d just assume we done with it, but we’ll get the best we can.”
Sweeney said that while negotiating the original property tax reforms that he favored a 0% cap. “That would force municipalities to, if not consolidate, to share, to share services.”
Sweeney spoke to MMM after his sparsely attended Town Hall Meeting at the Bayshore Senior Day Center in Keansburg this afternoon.
Posted: March 20th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: NJ State Legislature, Property Tax Tool Kit, Property Taxes, Stephen Sweeney | Tags: Bayshore Senior Day Center, interest arbitration, Interest Arbitration Cap, Interest Arbitration Task Force, Keansburg, Senate President Steve Sweeney, Steve Sweeney | 2 Comments »
NJ lawmakers open debate on newest open space proposal (via
NJ.com)
TRENTON — Seeking to end a legislative stalemate over open space preservation, state lawmakers today began to debate a new proposal that would divert about $150 million a year in business taxes to protect land and historic sites in New Jersey. With…
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Posted: March 17th, 2014 | Author: admin | Filed under: New Jersey, NJ State Legislature | Tags: NJ Legislature, Open space | Comments Off on NJ lawmakers open debate on newest open space proposal
The problem is, they’ve already gotten special treatment
Tesla Motors, the manufacturer and retailer of electric powered cars, boasts on its website that it is “redefining the way cars are sold.”
They’ve been selling new cars in an unconventional way in New Jersey for one, two or four years, depending on who is telling the truth. They have a problem now, because the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission suddenly adopted what Tesla is calling a “new rule” that is consistent with decades old law allowing only franchised new car dealerships to sell new cars in New Jersey.
Instead of visiting a new car dealership where you test drive a car, haggle with a salesperson, wait for the salesperson to come back from pretending to talk to his/her manager, make a deal, get passed off to the business manager who bumps your interest rate, tries to sell you undercoating, credit insurance and an extended warranty and then wait a while longer to drive home in your new car, you can’t buy a car at Tesla’s two stores in New Jersey.
Tesla’s New Jersey stores are inside the Short Hills Mall in Short Hills and the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus. You can’t get your new electric car at one of those stores. You can’t even order it at the store. You can only look at a car and talk about it. If you want to buy one, you have to order it online and wait for it to be built in California before you take delivery. If you want to test drive one, you have to an request an appointment online. It might take a day or two for a representative to get back to you with an appointment. Test drives and new car deliveries are done out of the company’s service facility in Springfield.
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Posted: March 12th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Christie Administration, Economy, Motor Vehicle Commission, MVC, NJ State Legislature | Tags: Assemblyman John Wisniewski, Loretta Weinberg, Motor Vehicle Commission, MVC, New car sales, Tesla, Tesla Motors | 9 Comments »
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Posted: March 10th, 2014 | Author: admin | Filed under: NJ GOP, NJ Senate Republicans, NJ State Legislature | Tags: Kevin O'Toole, Kip Bateman, NJ Senate Republicans, Tom Kean JR | Comments Off on Tom Kean Jr.’s payback: NJ Senators who opposed him removed from leadership
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) said today that he is asking U.S Attorney Paul Fishman to open criminal investigations into the municipal clients of Redflex Traffic Systems, an Arizona based red light camera company, due to legal claims by a former executive that the company routinely bribed municipal officials in 13 states, including New Jersey, in order to obtain the lucrative contracts to operate camera systems that issue summonses for red light infractions.
Additionally, O’Scanlon is writing to Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski to ask that the committee open an investigation into New Jersey’s red light camera program in light of the recent bribery allegations and scientific proof commissioned by O’Scanlon that red light cameras are a detriment to public safety that are rigged to cheat motorists.
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Posted: February 4th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Declan O'Scanlon, NJ DOT, NJ State Legislature, Paul Fishman, Public Corruption, U.S. Attorney | Tags: Aaron Rosernberg, American Traffic Solutions, Assembly Transportation Committee, Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, ATS, Declan O'Scanlon, Department of Transportation, John Dee, John Wisniewski, NJ DOT, Paul Fishman, RedFlex, Steve Shapiro, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, U.S. Attorney's Office | 10 Comments »
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Posted: January 23rd, 2014 | Author: admin | Filed under: Chris Christie, John Wisniewski, Law Enforcement, NJ State Legislature, Paul Fishman, Port Authority, U.S. Attorney | Tags: Bridgegate, Chris Chrsitie, George Washington Bridge, John Wisniewski, Paul Fishman, U.S. Attorney's Office | 5 Comments »
Trenton, New Jersey, January 14, 2014
Lt. Governor, Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Legislators, friends, fellow New Jerseyans:
The last week has certainly tested this Administration. Mistakes were clearly made. And as a result, we let down the people we are entrusted to serve. I know our citizens deserve better. Much better.
I am the governor and I am ultimately responsible for all that happens on my watch – both good and bad.
Without a doubt we will cooperate with all appropriate inquiries to ensure this breach of trust does not happen again.
But I also want to assure the people of New Jersey today that what has occurred does not define us or our state. This Administration and this Legislature will not allow the work that needs to be done to improve the people’s lives in New Jersey to be delayed. I am the leader of this state and its people and I stand here today proud to be both. And always determined to do better.
Now I come before you once again to report on the state of our state.
And today, the state of the state is good, and getting better.
(View the entire State of the State address here)
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Posted: January 14th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 2016 Presidential Politics, Chris Christie, NJ State Legislature | Tags: 2014 State of the State, Chris Christie, Governor Chris Christie, State of the State | 5 Comments »
New Jersey property taxes will likely resume the double digit annual growth that occurred under the McGreevey, Codey and Corzine Administrations if Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto’s version of the of the Interest Arbitration extension becomes law. Either that, or municipal governments as we know them will cease to exist, succumbing to a long and painful death of higher crime and reduced services and capital improvements.
