Property taxes soar 29% in 4 years
Corzine says reform won't come easily
Sunday, January 15, 2006
BY TOM HESTER AND JOE DONOHUE
Star-Ledger Staff
Four years ago this week, James E. McGreevey stormed into the governor's office after campaigning on a bread-and-butter issue that tickled weary homeowners: cutting property taxes.
Today, the average tax bill in New Jersey is 29 percent higher, according to a new Star-Ledger analysis that also puts last year's increase at 6.3 percent. That means the average tax bill during McGreevey's four-year term, the last 14 months of which was finished by Richard Codey, climbed $1,309 to $5,867.
On Tuesday, Democrat Jon Corzine takes office as governor with a pledge to boost property tax rebates and ask lawmakers to devise a long-range solution to an issue that has bedeviled New Jersey for decades.
"I understand why the public is inflamed," Corzine said. "We have the highest. It really is the problem that people say it is."
The governor-elect said he remains committed to his campaign vows: "rebates, in the short term, while we get our tails in gear to deal with real reform."
He said, however, that his call for long-term solutions may not come in the opening weeks of his term, which he says will focus on replenishing an almost bankrupt fund for road and rail projects and solving the state budget crisis.
Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) said property tax reform should be the Legislature's singular focus. "It has to be done this term," Roberts said, "and I believe we have to start on it almost immediately."
He won't get a quarrel from retired chemist John Dyer, 71, and his wife, Jennifer, 65, who don't know how long they can hold out after watching their property taxes rise 350 percent in the 27 years they have owned their home in Randolph.
"So many of our friends had to leave the area because they could not afford to pay the property taxes," Dyer said.
AVERAGE BILL UP $350
The Star-Ledger analysis found property taxes rose an average of $350 last year as taxpayer rebates to nonseniors were sliced by at least $400 because of the state budget woes. The inexorable climb in property taxes prompted angry homeowners to tell candidates this was their top priority during last year's gubernatorial campaign. There were good reasons:
The Star-Ledger analysis found property taxes rose an average of $350 last year as taxpayer rebates to nonseniors were sliced by at least $400 because of the state budget woes. The inexorable climb in property taxes prompted angry homeowners to tell candidates this was their top priority during last year's gubernatorial campaign. There were good reasons:
- Ninety-six of the state's 566 cities and towns were rocked by average tax hikes of more than 10 percent.
- Forty-four towns had average property tax bills topping $10,000 -- eight more than in 2004. Six years ago, just three municipalities could claim that distinction.
- Five counties -- Bergen, Essex, Hunterdon, Somerset and Morris -- had average tax bills exceeding $7,000. Bergen, with $7,859 average bills, is highest.
- Plainsboro residents were hardest hit, with a 27.9 percent increase -- an average hike of $1,691.
- Property taxpayers shelled out a total of $19.5 billion last year -- an increase of more than $1.1 billion.
Corzine, like governors before him, vows to beef up property tax rebates that have been mailed to residents for three decades. The governor-elect, however, has said he wants to call a special session of the Legislature -- and then a constitutional convention -- to find a permanent solution.
Across the state, people are tracking property taxes and government and school spending like avid baseball fans track batting averages.
In search of lower property taxes, Dick Clair, 70, a retired human resources manager, and his wife, Michele, 60, last year sold the home where they lived in Morris Township for 25 years and moved 33 miles to Andover Township, Sussex County. He cut his property taxes by $4,000, to $7,000.
"We could no longer afford to live in Morris Township," Clair said. "We are both retired. We had to sell assets to pay the damn property tax."
"Taxation should be based on ability to pay, on household income, not on the paper value of one's home," he said. "The present system seems to unfairly shift the burden from corporations and the wealthy to the low- and middle-income homeowners and taxpayers."
In Liberty Township, Warren County, stay-at-home father William VonderHarr, 40, started a citizens group when he suspected there was little official oversight on spending in the school district his community shares with Independence Township.
VonderHarr and his wife, Lisa, 37, an accountant, paid $8,500 in property taxes last year, a $300 increase from 2004. He said Corzine must attack government and school spending as part of any effort to lower property taxes.
"To me, he has to focus on spending," he said. "Shifting (to other taxes) does not seem to make any sense. You will get a couple of more rich guys to pay a few extra dollars."
NO SIMPLE SOLUTIONS
A day after he is inaugurated, Corzine is expected to address the State League of Municipalities, which is pressing for a tax convention where the ultimate decision on property taxes is made by voters.
"I am not expecting the Legislature to solve this problem alone," said William Dressel, executive director of the league. "Nothing will get done in this politically charged environment until they engage the taxpayers. Taxpayers are sick and tired of the rhetoric."
Codey said he hopes limits on school spending he enacted last year will stem the increase in property taxes, but noted the huge expense of paying for education and local services isn't going to vanish.
"Nobody's going to come down from heaven and wipe away the burden of paying for all these costs," Codey said. "The best you can do is have a more equitable distribution of who pays and how much. And when you do that, if in fact you do that, you are going to get a heck of a lot of people mad at you."
For example, last week, Assemblyman Louis Manzo (D-Hudson) made a push for a bill to reduce school tax bills by an average of $1,500. But to get that savings, he would require a surcharge on income taxpayers.
From his house in Andover Township, Clair said he wants property taxes reduced, but understands this won't be an easy one for the new governor.
"Corzine has got some real headaches ahead," Clair said. "I hope his wine bar is well stocked."
Staff writers Robert Gebeloff and Josh Margolin contributed to this report. Tom Hester may be reached at (609) 292-0557 or thester@starledger.com. Joe Donohue may be reached at (609) 989-0208 or jdonohue@starledger.com.