Posts
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Posted by
Michael I. Schneck, Esq.
at
4:50 PM
As posted in today’s Star Ledger by Craig:
“A new state program would provide tax credits to corporations that build office towers in New Jersey cities.
The Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit is supposed to convince companies to relocate to Camden, East Orange, Elizabeth, Jersey City, New Brunswick, Paterson, Trenton and... Hoboken.
Companies would have to make a capital investment of at least $75 million and create at least 250 jobs, according to an article yesterday on NJBiz.com. The tax credit would between 80 percent and 100 percent of the company's real estate investment, the article said.
And if the building is located within an Urban Enterprise Zone, the company would be exempt from paying sales tax on furniture, fixtures and equipment.
The program is backed by Gov. Jon Corzine of Hoboken.
To qualify, the business must be within a half-mile of mass transit. The idea, supporters say, is to encourage redevelopment of property within cities, reducing suburban sprawl.”
“A new state program would provide tax credits to corporations that build office towers in New Jersey cities.
The Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit is supposed to convince companies to relocate to Camden, East Orange, Elizabeth, Jersey City, New Brunswick, Paterson, Trenton and... Hoboken.
Companies would have to make a capital investment of at least $75 million and create at least 250 jobs, according to an article yesterday on NJBiz.com. The tax credit would between 80 percent and 100 percent of the company's real estate investment, the article said.
And if the building is located within an Urban Enterprise Zone, the company would be exempt from paying sales tax on furniture, fixtures and equipment.
The program is backed by Gov. Jon Corzine of Hoboken.
To qualify, the business must be within a half-mile of mass transit. The idea, supporters say, is to encourage redevelopment of property within cities, reducing suburban sprawl.”
Labels: Property Tax Reform
Monday, March 17, 2008
A quote from today’s The Daily Journal:
“Who's to blame?
With $33 billion being collected, and with the state still broke, who's to blame? Who allowed this to happen?
The lawmakers who run the state government, said Riccards of the Hall Institute, ‘spent more money than we took in. ... even in good times, we didn't save. Both political parties are responsible.’
All of us played a role. At the ballot box, taxpayers approved billions in borrowing for everything from farmland preservation to bridge repairs.
‘We've been afraid of alienating the important interest groups that run this state,’ Riccards said. The teachers, state workers, police and firemen ‘are a huge number of votes.’ Of the 4.3 million workers in New Jersey, 770,000 belong to unions.
Lawmakers have promised before to cure the state of its spending addiction.
But they never have.
And when they fail, what do we do?
‘We re-elect them,’ Riccards said. ‘We're the ones who are refusing to make changes. It's our own fault.’"
For the full article, click HERE.
“Who's to blame?
With $33 billion being collected, and with the state still broke, who's to blame? Who allowed this to happen?
The lawmakers who run the state government, said Riccards of the Hall Institute, ‘spent more money than we took in. ... even in good times, we didn't save. Both political parties are responsible.’
All of us played a role. At the ballot box, taxpayers approved billions in borrowing for everything from farmland preservation to bridge repairs.
‘We've been afraid of alienating the important interest groups that run this state,’ Riccards said. The teachers, state workers, police and firemen ‘are a huge number of votes.’ Of the 4.3 million workers in New Jersey, 770,000 belong to unions.
Lawmakers have promised before to cure the state of its spending addiction.
But they never have.
And when they fail, what do we do?
‘We re-elect them,’ Riccards said. ‘We're the ones who are refusing to make changes. It's our own fault.’"
For the full article, click HERE.
Labels: Perspective
Thursday, March 6, 2008
As reported by the Star Ledger today, the second-highest-ranking member of New Jersey’s Senate and Budget and Appropriations Committee, Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), stated yesterday that he will seek to prevent Governor Corzine from the planned $168 million reduction in state aid to municipalities. According to the Senator, Corzine’s plan will result in higher property taxes for those that live in small municipalities who already receive minimal state aid.
"I intend to work with my colleagues to identify more cuts to the state budget, including additional layoffs and steeper reductions in state operations, in order to restore the $168 million for property tax relief," Sarlo said. "We need to reduce the size of state government."
"It's kind of hypocritical to be sending money to smaller towns to pump up schools and on the other hand take out municipal aid," Sarlo said. "That's not doing anything but netting out to zero. The loser is the taxpayers. It's smoke and mirrors."
The full Star Ledger article may be found HERE.
"I intend to work with my colleagues to identify more cuts to the state budget, including additional layoffs and steeper reductions in state operations, in order to restore the $168 million for property tax relief," Sarlo said. "We need to reduce the size of state government."
"It's kind of hypocritical to be sending money to smaller towns to pump up schools and on the other hand take out municipal aid," Sarlo said. "That's not doing anything but netting out to zero. The loser is the taxpayers. It's smoke and mirrors."
The full Star Ledger article may be found HERE.
Labels: Property Tax Reform
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
GOVERNING Magazine just released its annual “Grading the States.” What should come as not much of a surprise, New Jersey received a “C” by the magazine.
As stated by the magazine:
“The problems in New Jersey's fiscal stewardship have never been clearer than they were on the Fourth of July, 2006, when the state's casinos and parks had to be closed — the result of lawmakers' inability to pass a budget on time. The budget fracas revolved around Governor Jon Corzine's plan to deal with structural money shortfalls by raising the sales tax from 6 to 7 percent. The impasse was resolved only when legislators agreed to approve the increase but send half of it back out in the form of property tax relief.
Last year the governor and legislature seemed genuinely dedicated to avoiding similar embarrassment. And they took a step toward accountability by publishing a comprehensive Citizens' Guide to the budget that included every change to the governor's original submission along with the name of the official who proposed that change. Transparency seemed to help; the budget passed nine days early.
But an on-time budget isn't necessarily a good one, and New Jersey hasn't yet found a way to deal with the long-term imbalance between its revenues and its spending. The state's citizens have begun to understand the problem. In November 2007, staring down a $3 billion hole in a $33 billion budget, voters rejected a plan to dedicate the remaining half-penny of the sales tax increase to property tax relief — and they did this despite the fact that New Jersey has the highest property tax in the nation. With a debt of $32 billion, such hard decisions are going to be necessary for some time.
The consequences of the fiscal problem hit home everywhere in state government. Deferred maintenance in the transportation system has swelled to $13 billion. As one Department of Transportation official puts it, "we are holding ground on the pavement and we are losing on the bridges." Although New Jersey has the nation's third-lowest gas tax, a tax increase to bolster maintenance doesn't seem politically possible. Corzine talks about creating a nonprofit public benefit corporation to manage the day-to-day operation of several major roadways, including the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.
Non-transportation infrastructure is no better off. The state dedicated $7 million this year toward a prioritized list of roof improvements on public buildings; even so, life-cycle roof replacement is three or four years behind schedule.
Similarly, the state's dwindling investment in human capital training has begun to leave a mark. With a hiring freeze on for many positions in the state, maximizing the productivity of each employee becomes critical. But New Jersey spends less than 0.2 percent of its corrections payroll on training, for example, while neighboring Pennsylvania and Connecticut spend 1 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. Likewise, the development of a new Department of Children and Families is destined for difficulty if it continues to spend only $44 per manager for training. Both expenditure figures rank among the lowest in the nation. Civil service rules dictate that employees with seniority have protected jobs during layoffs, potentially compounding the problems of the baby-boomer retirement wave by leaving a dearth of young, well-trained talent in its wake.
Worse still, New Jersey faces a newly revealed $58 billion long-term bill for post-employment retirement benefits owed to its workers. Many other states are up against big bills on this front, but New Jersey's is a whopper by anyone's standards. On the pension side, the state is similarly hobbled. Despite improved funding in the past two years, liabilities continue to grow.”
For the original version of this article, including detailed statistics, please click HERE.
As stated by the magazine:
“The problems in New Jersey's fiscal stewardship have never been clearer than they were on the Fourth of July, 2006, when the state's casinos and parks had to be closed — the result of lawmakers' inability to pass a budget on time. The budget fracas revolved around Governor Jon Corzine's plan to deal with structural money shortfalls by raising the sales tax from 6 to 7 percent. The impasse was resolved only when legislators agreed to approve the increase but send half of it back out in the form of property tax relief.
Last year the governor and legislature seemed genuinely dedicated to avoiding similar embarrassment. And they took a step toward accountability by publishing a comprehensive Citizens' Guide to the budget that included every change to the governor's original submission along with the name of the official who proposed that change. Transparency seemed to help; the budget passed nine days early.
But an on-time budget isn't necessarily a good one, and New Jersey hasn't yet found a way to deal with the long-term imbalance between its revenues and its spending. The state's citizens have begun to understand the problem. In November 2007, staring down a $3 billion hole in a $33 billion budget, voters rejected a plan to dedicate the remaining half-penny of the sales tax increase to property tax relief — and they did this despite the fact that New Jersey has the highest property tax in the nation. With a debt of $32 billion, such hard decisions are going to be necessary for some time.
The consequences of the fiscal problem hit home everywhere in state government. Deferred maintenance in the transportation system has swelled to $13 billion. As one Department of Transportation official puts it, "we are holding ground on the pavement and we are losing on the bridges." Although New Jersey has the nation's third-lowest gas tax, a tax increase to bolster maintenance doesn't seem politically possible. Corzine talks about creating a nonprofit public benefit corporation to manage the day-to-day operation of several major roadways, including the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.
Non-transportation infrastructure is no better off. The state dedicated $7 million this year toward a prioritized list of roof improvements on public buildings; even so, life-cycle roof replacement is three or four years behind schedule.
Similarly, the state's dwindling investment in human capital training has begun to leave a mark. With a hiring freeze on for many positions in the state, maximizing the productivity of each employee becomes critical. But New Jersey spends less than 0.2 percent of its corrections payroll on training, for example, while neighboring Pennsylvania and Connecticut spend 1 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. Likewise, the development of a new Department of Children and Families is destined for difficulty if it continues to spend only $44 per manager for training. Both expenditure figures rank among the lowest in the nation. Civil service rules dictate that employees with seniority have protected jobs during layoffs, potentially compounding the problems of the baby-boomer retirement wave by leaving a dearth of young, well-trained talent in its wake.
Worse still, New Jersey faces a newly revealed $58 billion long-term bill for post-employment retirement benefits owed to its workers. Many other states are up against big bills on this front, but New Jersey's is a whopper by anyone's standards. On the pension side, the state is similarly hobbled. Despite improved funding in the past two years, liabilities continue to grow.”
For the original version of this article, including detailed statistics, please click HERE.
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