NJ Property Taxes
Property taxes haven't been high on my list of complaints, but they're rapidly moving up. I can't figure out how other states do it. They seem to have all the schools and services we have, but their property taxes are less than half of ours. Maybe we should hire their politicians.
Things started to change about a year ago:
State high court clears school construction bonds (Star Ledger 8/22/02) - Approval of voters not needed to borrow $8.6 billion, even though the NJ constitution states that voters are supposed to decide.
OK, THAT'S WHERE I DRAW THE LINE. $8.6 billion in bonds plus an 18% increase in one year, and they have the gall to ask for more only a few months later? This is getting out of control. My campaign starts with a letter to the local paper:
Letter to the Neighbor News
Rockaway Township's local paper
To the editor.
A few weeks ago you ran a story about the $55.8 million school construction bond issue local residents will be asked to vote on in March. I'm sorry, but I can not vote to raise my taxes any more.
My property taxes went up almost 20% last year - by far the largest jump since I moved to Rockaway 12 years ago. And I know it's not just me because the Neighbor NEWS printed a letter from the mayor of Rockaway Township last September proclaiming "Don't Like R.T.'s Tax Situation? It's Not Our Fault", in which Mayor Sceusi passed the buck to Governor McGreevey and State legislators for cutting local and school funding. ...The same Governor McGreevey who campaigned on property tax relief, and the same legislators who recently have been in the news for padding their own pensions.
I am a single homeowner with no kids. However, I'm not one say "I shouldn't have to pay for schools because I don't have any kids". Frankly, I think everyone who has had an education should pay into education. The question is: Do property taxes share the burden for schools equally? Not even close.
You might say the home someone owns is a reflection of his or her ability to pay. That's not true. According a Star Ledger article last year, I'm not making much more than half the average income for Morris county residents. (I didn't know how poor I was until I saw that article. Thank God for double coupons!). And some of my neighbors have two working adult incomes. Why should I be paying the same amount into schools as household with incomes 3 or 4 times as much as mine?
Some people seek out towns with great schools and don't mind paying higher taxes for them. But I looked for a town with more affordable taxes because I didn't need schools. What are people like me supposed to do when people move in and want better schools? Is my only option to move out of Rockaway? That's not fair.
And senior citizens are probably the hardest hit of all. Many of them have lived here much of their lives, and have already paid for the schools that their generation required. But now they are on fixed incomes and the situation is changing, raising their property taxes to the point they're being squeezed out of the very communities they helped build.
There were also a few other comments in your article by those pushing the referendum. Like they made it sound like the tax hike would hardly be noticeable - an average of $11.67 per month for Rockaway Township residents, or $140 per year. But wait a minute - my property taxes went up several times that last year alone. And considering the NJ budget mess, I'm sure property taxes will continue to skyrocket, so that $140 per year is on TOP of that. Plus don't forget that our homestead rebate is also on the Governor's chopping block.
Then there was the comment by Principal Cacciaguida that if we don't pass this referendum, we would be wasting $7 million in "free money" from additional state aid. That's one of the problems with government employees - they always see our tax dollars as "free money". It's not.
Finally, principal Cacciaguida was confident the bond issue would pass because "the people in these communities are very intelligent". Well, I guess that makes me stupid because I'll be voting against it. And since I'm stupid, I guess I didn't get my share of schooling after all, so maybe I shouldn't pay for a full share of an education.
Jim Padykula
Rockaway Township