PROPERTY TAXES REMAIN NUMBER ONE CONCERN

The Connecticut university’s poll found 25% of voters named property taxes as the number one issue in the Garden State, and another 14% listed either education or school funding as the top priority. Voters rated both of these topics more important than the environment, crime, the economy, or auto insurance.

According to the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, the survey of New Jersey voters, released December 26, asked open-ended questions to which respondents could give any answer.

“There are several reasons why the local property tax and school funding continue to be prime issues for New Jersey voters,” said Patti J. Pawling, president of the New Jersey School Boards Association. “First, the majority of the local property tax bill goes toward schools.  Second, local property taxes still pay the lion’s share of the cost of education, despite several initiatives to address the issue.”

Recent developments have included—

• School construction: The Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act, which authorizes $8.6 billion in state funds for school construction, was signed on July 18, 2000. The legislation not only puts $6 billion toward projects in the state’s 30 neediest districts, it also allots $2.6 billion for all other school districts, saving local property taxpayers at least 40% of the cost of eligible construction.  The bill is a boon to property taxpayers in the 240 school districts previously ineligible for state construction aid, as well to those communities that had been eligible for only small amounts of state funding for construction in the past.
  
• In March of 2000, state Education Commissioner David Hespe called for an 11.7% increase in the minimum cost of providing regular education at the elementary school level over the next two years.  His recommendation accounts for such factors as the state’s new elementary school World Languages standard, which has prompted many school districts to hire additional modern language teachers.  Hespe also called for a $2,400 increase (to $6,607) in state funding per pupil for “Tier III” special education services, which are provided in-district to students with severe learning disabilities.
  
• The NJ Saver (School Assessment Valuation Exemption Relief) program, created in 1999, continues to provide rebate checks directly to homeowners based on the amount of school taxes that are paid.  According to the Whitman administration, the program will return $1 billion a year in property taxes directly to homeowners upon completion of its five-year phase-in.

State legislators have also introduced more than 50 bills dealing with property tax relief.  Assembly Speaker Collins formed the "Speaker’s Commission on Education" to examine all aspects of school finance and operations, including school property taxes, and Senate President Donald DiFrancesco is sponsoring four bills that would provide $400 million in property tax relief to taxpayers.  

In addition, the New Jersey School Boards Association is scheduled to release a second study on school property taxes this spring.  The report will focus on other states’ property tax systems and will analyze factors that affect the cost of education  

“So much progress has been made to raise public awareness of the property tax issue that it’s not surprising that New Jersey voters still rank it as a major concern,” said NJSBA President Pawling. “Many of the recent initiatives are temporary in nature, however.  For example, the NJ SAVER program, which we find extremely valuable, is funded through the state budget surplus that resulted from a strong economy, rather than through a dedicated funding source.