Senator, Where's the Money for Our Kids and Property Tax Relief?

Editor,

As we approach another critical election, the question voters in the towns
that make up the new 27th Legislative District (Caldwell, Chatham Twp., East
Hanover, Essex Fells, Florham Park, Hanover, Harding Twp., Livingston, Madison, Maplewood, Millburn, Roseland, South Orange and West Orange) should be asking our current state Senator Richard Codey, as well as his Assembly colleagues, John McKeon and Mila Jasey, "Where's the Money for Our Kids and Property Tax Relief?"

It's nice that in a fit of "bipartisan" spirit several Morris and Essex county Republicans recently endorsed Sen. Codey because he did those towns a
few minor favors, but what he hasn't done in his almost 40 years in Trenton
as assemblyman, senator, senate president and governor, is help fix the
property tax problem for the suburban towns he represents, and will be
representing in January if he is re-elected.  And this, I would argue, is
the sole criteria we should be using to determine who will represent us in Trenton.

Since 1976, NJ has imposed an income tax on its residents that was done
through a constitutional amendment approved by voters.  The expressed reason
for agreeing to the new tax was to provide everyone with property tax
relief.

At first, the income tax did provide relief in the form of aid to municipalities and school districts, as well as property tax rebates.  But over the years, and many NJ Supreme Court decisions that required more and more funding for the 31 Abbott school districts, suburban towns saw their relief increase in very small increments and then plateau. Last year, in a final insult to the idea of tax relief, our minimal state school aid, which traditionally provided the biggest portion of our "tax relief," was reduced to almost nothing.

This year, a fraction of what was lost was restored, but collectively, all of District 27's schools (with 36,000 students) only get total state aid of about $17,400,000. By comparison, the Abbott school districts have seen their aid grow in leaps and bounds.  And, as an example, one Abbott district that is about the same size as Madison, Asbury Park (with less than 2,500 students), gets state aid of over $63,000,000, or over three-and-a-half times what the entire legislative district receives!

This past year, state Senator Michael Doherty has been traveling around NJ
pushing his Fair School Funding plan.  If enacted, it would provide equal
funding on a per pupil basis and would see the school funding for District
27 school districts increase by over $260,000,000. I don't believe that Sen. Doherty's constitutional amendment would ever make it through the legislature as proposed, but if suburban school districts were given even a half or quarter of that amount they would see their funding increase five to ten-fold, and that would provide both a restoration of funds lost, and the potential for significant Property Tax Relief.

Unfortunately, over his career, Senator Codey has proposed no similar legislation to correct this problem, and when, as Senate President, he shepherded Governor Corzine's School Funding Reform Act (SFRA) through the legislature in 2008, he cemented a formula that will continue to strip billions of dollars from suburban districts like ours. This past year, the District 27 representatives' plan for increasing school funding relied on either a rosy revenue estimate, or further income tax increases. As usually, towns like ours in the 27th would continue to receive pennies for every dollar submitted to Trenton.

As an example, my own town's residents have annually made income tax payments of $25 to $40 million, yet we've seen total aid for both the municipality and school district move from a high of $2,600,000 down to $1,500,000, a "return" of 4 to 6 percent. I would also note that in the past fifteen years, state aid to school districts has more than doubled, yet districts like Madison have seen their aid fall by 20 percent.

As long as suburban voters continue to support legislators like Dick Codey we can expect no real property tax relief, AND, a continued erosion of funding for our Public Schools.  Therefore, I strongly recommend a vote for William Eames for state Senate from the 27th District.  We need a new voice in Trenton.

Patrick Rowe
Madison

Note–Mr. Rowe has served on the Madison Board of Education since 2004, but
this letter is not submitted on behalf of that organization.