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6-15-10 afternoon - More Education & Related Issues in the News
‘Gov. Christie says property tax cap could force N.J. town, school district mergers’ Statehouse Bureau Record/Ledger 6-15-10 p.m.
‘N.J. Assembly schedules vote to override Gov. Christie's 'millionaires tax' veto’ Statehouse Bureau Staff, 6-15-10 p.m.


‘Gov. Christie says property tax cap could force N.J. town, school district mergers’  Statehouse Bureau Record/Ledger 6-15-10 p.m.

 

‘N.J. Assembly schedules vote to override Gov. Christie's 'millionaires tax' veto’  Statehouse Bureau Staff, 6-15-10 p.m.

 

 

‘Gov. Christie says property tax cap could force N.J. town, school district mergers’

Published: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 2:01 PM     Updated: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 2:48 PM

Claire Heininger/Statehouse Bureau


PERTH AMBOY — Gov. Chris Christie today said a strict limit on annual property tax increases may finally force mergers that would reduce the number of towns and schools in New Jersey. The Garden State now has 566 towns and 588 school districts.

The governor said a constitutional amendment capping annual property tax increases at 2.5 percent will prod local governments to be more efficient, which could mean consolidating and sharing services.

"There's a lot of redundancy that goes on from district to district," he told a town hall audience of about 275 people in Perth Amboy. "They have a K-8 district in a town, and then they have a regional high school district. They all have their own superintendent. They all have their own administrators. They all have their own business people. When Cap 2.5 comes into effect, these school districts are going to have to make choices, and some of those choices are going to be that they're going to want to consolidate with other districts to be able to save their money.

More coverage:

New Jersey: 1 small state, 566 towns. Can Christie change that?

Gov. Chris Christie says 2.5 percent tax cap will push towns to run more efficiently

N.J. Gov. Christie's office tried to pick friendly audience for property-tax cap meetings

Massachusetts shows implications of Gov. Christie's proposed 2.5 percent property tax cap

Think tank says Christie's property tax cap would hurt N.J. education, public services

Republican group launches radio ads supporting Gov. Christie's N.J. property tax cap proposal

Complete coverage of the 2010 New Jersey State Budget

"Right now, there's is no incentive to do that and there is no imperative to do it, because all they can do is just continue to raise property taxes," Christie said.

The governor compared his own hometown of Mendham Township and neighboring Mendham Borough, saying they each have a police department, governing body, and library -- despite being so close "I can punt a football from my house to Mendham Borough."

"In towns across New Jersey, not just school boards but towns, as we put a cap on what they can spend, then they have to decide, 'Well, how do we spend our money?'" Christie said.

But in a nod to the near-sacred status of home rule in New Jersey, Christie said decisions on merging will be up to towns and school districts -- not him or "some bureaucrat in Trenton."

The Republican governor is pushing for a constitutional amendment banning local governments from increasing their property tax levies by more than 2.5 percent annually, with very few exceptions. The proposal needs the support of three-fifths of the Democrat-controlled state Legislature to go on the ballot in November.

New Jersey currently has a 4 percent statutory cap, which supporters say has helped bring down the rate of property tax increases to 3.3 percent on average last year. But critics argue that cap has too many exceptions for circumstances like rising health care costs or a cut in state aid.

Christie's cap could only be broken for debt service payments or if local voters choose to override it.

Gov. Christie hopes Cap 2.5 will force town consolidation

 

‘N.J. Assembly schedules vote to override Gov. Christie's 'millionaires tax' veto’  Statehouse Bureau Staff

Published: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 4:53 PM     Updated: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 5:01 PM



TRENTON — The Assembly Democrats are taking one last stab at raising taxes on the rich to pay for property tax rebates for senior citizens and disabled residents, scheduling a vote for Monday in a long-shot effort to override Gov. Chris Christie's veto.

Christie last month quickly vetoed the so-called "millionaires tax" that would have raised taxes on residents that make more than $1 million a year to restore some property tax rebates that the Republican governor eliminated in his $29.3 billion budget for 2011.

The Democrat-controlled legislature has two weeks to pass a budget before the start of the next fiscal year.

Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan (D-Union) said he was searching for the seven Republicans needed for the override. He could not name one he thought would break party lines.

Senate Democrats were not available immediately for comment on whether they would schedule a vote as well.