O’Scanlon releases detailed plan to cap property tax hikes and save cops and firefighters jobs

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon

TRENTON, N.J. – A month after releasing his report of the Arbitration Award Task Force that recommends permanently extending the cap, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) proposed a comprehensive plan to ensure the policies continue to keep property taxes from rapidly increasing.  He released the following statement:

“If we’re going to be honest, as effective policy makers it’s incumbent upon us to do the hard work, master the facts and policy nuances before us, and present cogent proposals to the public and the legislature. This list of policy proposals is me doing my job.

 “The inescapable logic of permanently tying the arbitration award cap to the property tax cap isn’t hard to grasp.  It is fourth-grade math.  Any candidate or legislator who claims he needs ‘more information’ or that ‘all the facts aren’t in’ is feigning, in most cases, stupidity to avoid responsibility. Parents try to teach their children to reject such self-demoralizing choices. Read the rest of this entry »

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Aberdeen Mayor Supports O’Scanlon’s Efforts To Limit Property Tax Hikes

Aberdeen Mayor Fred Tagliarini

We haven’t heard from Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop since Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon challenged him to pressure Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto to put the extension of the 2% limit on arbitration awards for police and firefighter salary contracts up for a vote. But Aberdeen Mayor Fred Tagliarini, a Democrat, called to say that he supports O’Scanlon’s effort.

“The 2% arbitration cap is a very powerful tool in stabilizing property taxes,” Tagliarini said in a phone interview with MMM. “I don’t know any mayor, Democrat or Republican, who wants it to expire.  The cap should be extended before it expires in December.” Read the rest of this entry »

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O’Scanlon challenges Jersey City Mayor Fulop to pressure Speaker Prieto to extend Arbitration Cap

Jersey City Police Officers were awarded a 2% pay increase by a state appointed arbitrator this week.

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, not the Democrat nominee for Governor, declared that the best interests of his city’s residents and taxpayers prevailed, according to Hudson County View. 

The arbitrator’s decision will enable Mayor Fulop and the city council to keep their budget within the two-percent levy cap and hold the line on property taxes from substantially increasing.

“This is not a day where we say that we won, but rather that the best interest of the city, its residents and the taxpayers prevailed,” Fulop said in a statement reported by HCV.

“We have negotiated successfully with six of the city’s other unions to adopt measures that correct many of the outdated contract provisions and worked productively with the unions for the benefit of their members and the public. Unfortunately, the POBA chose a different route and an independent arbitrator was required.”

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) today called on Fulop to join him in challenging Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto to put legislation making the cap permanent up for vote in the Assembly. Read the rest of this entry »

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O’Scanlon releases Arbitration Task Force report recommending permanent award cap

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon

TRENTON, N.J. – Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon released today the report of the Arbitration Award Task Force as recommended by four of the eight members. The report outlines the success of the arbitration award cap in enabling municipal officials to maintain budgets within the 2 percent property-tax cap and curb property-tax increases to historically low levels, and recommends making the cap on arbitration awards permanent before the policy is scheduled to sunset on Dec. 31.

“The data contained in this report is beyond clear and convincing; it is overwhelming,” said O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth). “It would be irresponsible for the Legislature not to take action. In fact, any legislator that fails to advocate for continuation of the arbitration award cap will be, by extension, advocating for the obliteration of the property tax cap and higher property taxes. There is no middle ground here. Mark my words; if the cap isn’t permanently extended taxpayers will unquestionably face much more dramatic property tax increases and cuts to municipal services.”

During a vote Monday to release the report, the task force was deadlocked 4-4. Union representatives blocked the report’s endorsement. O’Scanlon, who voted to release the report, is the only legislator appointed by the governor to sit on the task force. Read the rest of this entry »

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