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Corzine throws in towel on formula for school funds
Says state out of time this year
BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL
Star-Ledger Staff
Gov. Jon Corzine told lawmakers yesterday he has officially given up plans to craft a new formula for distributing $7 billion in state public school aid in time for use in school budgets for the upcoming year.
Corzine said the state had run out of time for reworking the formula for funding schools this year, although he pledged to increase state aid to school districts.
"I do believe we are going to have to increase funding for schools this year," Corzine said. But the governor added that any new formula "needs to work for our kids. I would rather work to make sure that we have an appropriate funding formula, rather than one sooner."
Sen. Robert Martin (R-Morris), one of about a half-dozen key lawmakers brought to Corzine's office yesterday for briefings on the school funding plans, said: "This year will be a bridge year. It's not clear how much additional money will be available."
At the beginning of their special session to revamp local property taxes last summer, lawmakers promised a new school aid formula that would have boosted state aid to public schools by almost $1 billion. Recently, however, prospects of that level of new aid dimmed as lawmakers have pursued a $2.2 billion property tax credit program.
Sen. Joseph Doria (D-Hudson), who also attended one of yesterday's briefings, said he was disappointed that the seven-month effort to rewrite a school funding formula has fallen short.
Lawmakers who set up four special committees to address property taxes dedicated one of the panels to school funding. School taxes account for 55 percent of the state's $20.1 billion property tax tab. Originally the panel hoped to deliver a new school aid distribution formula by the end of last year.
Without a new aid formula, Corzine told lawmakers, additional funding for schools will be targeted to communities that have been shortchanged by five years of flat funding. The governor also told legislators he is still committed to providing millions of dollars in additional aid to expand kindergarten and preschool programs in poor communities, Martin said. Corzine will present his proposed budget Feb. 22.
For lobbyists and others monitoring the Legislature's efforts to revamp the state's school funding and local tax systems, the inability to devise a new school aid formula was seen as a major failure.
"Without a school funding formula, the entire idea of property tax relief and reform goes down the drain," said Lynne Strickland, lobbyist for the Garden State Coalition of Schools. "This is a big hole in the puzzle."
Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) said the delay could help the Legislature devise a better formula.
"By no means does this delay signal an abandonment of the goal of enacting a formula that treats all schools and schoolchildren equally," she said.
Staff writer Deborah Howlett contributed to this report.
Senate to take up tax relief again
A $2 billion property tax relief proposal for homeowners stalled in the state Senate last night, joining a host of measures that have failed in a special legislative session many lawmakers are now openly branding a failure.
Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) said the Senate would reconvene at "
“I’m not going to stop trying,” Codey said after pulling the plug on last night's stalemate. “Hopefully sometime soon we’ll get 21 votes and the people of New Jersey will get property tax relief.”
"The people deserve better than this,” said Sen. Nia Gill (D-Essex), one of three Democrats who voted against the property tax relief program, letting it languish three votes short of passage for more than two hours before lawmakers gave up for the night at 11 p.m.
Three Democrats - Gill, Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) and Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) cast votes against the tax relief bill last night. A fourth, Sen. Wayne Bryant (D-Camden) declined to cast a vote on the measure, saying he was holding out for an amendment to the measure.
Contributed by Dunstan McNichol and Deborah Howlett
Property tax credit stalls in Trenton
Codey says Senate will try again today
BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL AND DEBORAH HOWLETT
Star-Ledger Staff
A proposal to offer homeowners $2 billion in property tax relief stalled in the state Senate yesterday, the latest stumble in a special legislative session many lawmakers are now openly branding a failure.
"The people deserve better than this," said Sen. Nia Gill (D-Essex), one of three Democrats who voted against the measure, leaving it to languish short of the votes needed for passage for more than two hours before lawmakers gave up for the night at 11 p.m.
Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) said the Senate would reconvene this morning at "11:30 sharp" to make another run at passing the bill (S20) that would offer most homeowners a credit against portions of the property tax bills this fall and attempt to impose a 4 percent limit on the future growth of local taxes.
Codey said he'll call the Senate back daily until the measure is approved.
"I'm not going to stop trying," Codey said after pulling the plug on last night's stalemate. "Hopefully, sometime soon we'll get 21 votes and the people of
The Senate did pass one reform bill (S17) that prohibits future elected officials from collecting public pensions -- but amended it to strip out provisions that would have barred elected officials from holding more than one office at a time, starting in February 2008. The changes mean it must return to the Assembly for review.
In place of the provisions deleted from that bill, the Senate amended a separate bill (S18) to immediately ban dual office-holding for all newly elected officials. That amended measure, however, was not presented for a full Senate vote yesterday.
Assembly Democrats said the last-minute changes are designed to discourage challengers from taking on Senate incumbents, and could doom the reform effort in the Assembly.
"The Senate's poison-pill amendment is all about incumbency protection," said Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer). He predicted the result would be the demise of the bill "as the measure ends up in a game of legislative Ping-Pong between the Senate and Assembly."
A bill designed to set up new county school superintendents with the power to veto local school budgets and force votes on school district mergers (A4) also is headed back to the Assembly after it was amended by the Senate. The Senate removed provisions that would have moved school board and fire districts elections to November.
The day's Senate-floor drama was the latest setback for a reform effort that critics have said is falling far short of the radical changes homeowners need to head off unaffordable increases in local tax bills.
When the $2 billion relief program was put up for final passage at about 9 p.m., the tally board lit up with 18 votes in favor and 7 opposed -- and stayed that way for two hours.
Three Democrats -- Gill, Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) and Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) -- voted no, along with four Republicans. A fourth Democrat, Sen. Wayne Bryant (D-Camden), declined to vote, saying he was holding out for an amendment.
For the two-plus hours the board was open, senators milled about the chamber trading war stories and telling jokes, in an almost cocktail party atmosphere.
Sen. Sharpe James (D-Essex) munched on pizza, while several members of the governor's staff nibbled on popcorn they brought over from the theater-style popper in the governor's private office.
Earlier yesterday, a first attempt to approve the credits-and-cap bill was abandoned after Adler and Gill spoke out against it.
"It's not just not good enough, it will be harmful," Adler said as he led off about an hour of public criticism of the bill. "I think we should step back, take a breath and ask for a do-over."
Gill denounced the tax credit plan as unaffordable and ineffectual. "The people deserve real reform, not rebates and gimmicks."
Meanwhile, lobbyists for police unions argued that language in the tax-cap portion of the bill would unfairly require arbitrators in contract disputes to consider the 4 percent limit when deciding on labor contracts for municipal workers.
The Assembly approved the credits-and-cap bill 71-8 a week ago, but any Senate changes would require a second vote.
Yesterday's setbacks fueled criticism from some lawmakers that their special session to reform property taxes has been a failure.
"We've hoodwinked the public with what I call press release reform," said Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth).
Gill and several Republicans said lawmakers should now call for a constitutional convention to let citizens try their hand at reform.
"It seems the only reasonable way to advance tax reform is to turn it over to the people at a constitutional convention," said Gill, who had earlier opposed such a measure.
Gov. Jon Corzine said earlier yesterday he was generally satisfied with the Legislature's effort at tax reform, saying it met his two bottom-line requirements -- an independent comptroller to watch over budgets and a strict limit on tax levies -- even if it fell short of the mark elsewhere.
"You could always identify a better product," Corzine said. "And, by the way, that product is not yet complete."
The tax credit program was seen as the most politically popular element of the tax reform plan. It would offer credits ranging from 10 to 20 percent of a homeowner's local tax bill for those earning up to $250,000 a year. It also would double, to $252 million, the state funding available to help tenants offset the property tax costs passed on to them in rent.
The new plan also imposes a 4 percent cap on the rate at which local governments and school boards can increase their property tax levies each year. Extra spending beyond 4 percent would be allowed for increasing school enrollment, exceptional hikes in health insurance premiums and scheduled increases in public employee pensions costs for the next two years. It also would let local officials seek state approval to exceed the cap for certain other costs, and if denied, seek voter approval. A ballot measure would have to pass with 60 percent of the vote.
Critics said the program would be unaffordable over the long term, and would force the state to consider selling off assets like the Turnpike or Lottery to bankroll it after this year.
In addition, they contended the caps had so many exceptions, they would not prove effective at reining in the growth of local tax bills.
Dunstan McNichol may be reached at dmcnichol@starledger.com or (609) 989-0341. Deborah Howlett may be reached at dhowlett@starledger.com or (609) 989-0273.
