“Property tax rates won't rise” plus 3 more

Property tax rates won't rise
N.J. property tax cap gives residents voting power over additional spending
With NJ property tax cap passed, some lawmakers already seeking changes
N.J. property tax cap gives residents voting power over additional spending

Posted: 14 Jul 2010 10:22 AM PDT

Beaufort residents will not see the city portion of their property tax bills increase this year even as Beaufort waits to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars in delinquent taxes from the current fiscal year.

Council gave final approval Tuesday to keep the rate steady after a presentation from city Comptroller Mack Cook.

Earlier this year, staff had said the city might have to increase property taxes about 5 percent to make up for about $220,000 in delinquent taxes from the current fiscal year.

Staff initially said the city would have to raise taxes to ensure it could make payments on its debt, including a voter-approved, general obligation bond that funded the new city hall and police and court building.

Cook told council members Tuesday the city can use money from one of its three tax increment finance districts funds to temporarily pay down debt while it waits for the delinquent taxes funds -- some of which are being appealed -- to come in.

The city will reimburse the TIF fund once the taxes have been paid, Cook said.

In other action, council:

• Gave final approval to rezone 2410 Allison Road from a single-family residential district to an office commercial district. The rezoning applicant has said he plans to open a medical office at that location.

• Gave final approval to create a Metropolitan Planning Commission, which will be made up of members from the city, town of Port Royal and Beaufort County.

• Established the top three areas in which it could apply for state-allocated Community Development Block Grant funding. The city listed village renaissance -- or revitalization of in-town residential neighborhoods -- as a priority along with community enrichment and economic development.

• Approved taking over control and maintenance of Palmetto and Polk streets from the South Carolina Department of Transportation. The move will allow the city to proceed with Boundary Street redevelopment plans, council said.

Beaufort City Council members voted Tuesday to outsource commercial trash pickup to Waste Pro USA, a move that makes recycling an economically feasible option if downtown merchants decide they want to implement a program, city officials said.

Some merchants have already hailed the move as a positive one for businesses.

"I've always wanted to get a recycling program going downtown," said Lantz Price, owner of Plums Inc., which operates Plums and the Saltus River Grill restaurants in downtown. "I've inquired about it and (the city) said it's too expensive. ... We should take advantage of recycling because so many of our bottles and cardboard are going to the landfill."

The city currently collects about 78 tons of solid waste a month from businesses and brings in about $11,572 monthly in net revenue -- not enough to cover other related costs, city Comptroller Mack Cook has said.

Beaufort has never offered its commercial customers a recycling program because it couldn't afford to, Cook said.

Waste Pro, which the city hired last year to take over residential garbage, recyclables and yard debris collection, can do more for less, council members said.

Under the new agreement, Waste Pro will hold the base pick-up rate steady for five years while also offering a recycling component.

The city would still have money to cover administrative costs, Cook said. If Waste Pro collected recycling separately, the city also would save on the fee it pays to dump trash.

That money could potentially go back to Main Street Beaufort, USA for downtown business marketing, Cook added.

Councilman Mike Sutton warned against implementing a recycling program without consulting all commercial customers about any potential negative consequences.

"I just want it to come from them, not from us," Sutton said.

Price has offered to help the city set up a program once its ready to move forward.

At least two other downtown businesses -- Fordham Market and Bay Street Outfitters -- said Tuesday they would support such a program.

Cook said the city will not implement a program until it consults with Main Street Beaufort, USA and downtown merchants.

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N.J. property tax cap gives residents voting power over additional spending

Posted: 14 Jul 2010 04:56 AM PDT

TRENTON — With Gov. Chris Christie's signing of a landmark property tax cap bill Tuesday, New Jerseyans will get to decide if their towns and school districts can go beyond the law's limits to spend extra cash on everything from hiring police officers to buying a new trash truck.

The 2 percent ceiling, lauded by Christie and lawmakers as a turning point for fiscal discipline, will force towns and schools to limit property tax collections like never before.

But taxpayers will have to wait until next year before any of these sweeping changes actually take effect.

The caps won't have an impact on residents' tax bills this year because town and school budgets have already been passed with the existing 4 percent limit. And state officials are still hammering out the details on exactly how voters will get to make their voices heard.

"It's time to put it in the hands of the people," the Republican governor said, flanked by supporters at a firehouse in Hamilton Township. "The more voter involvement we have in these kind of things, the better off we're going to be."
N.J. Gov. Christie signs 2 percent property tax cap bill

While it falls short of the tougher limits Christie wanted, the new law addresses voters' top priority and could cause a fundamental shift in how New Jersey pays for government. In Massachusetts, the governor's original model for a voter override, residents have decided whether to pony up higher taxes for everything from libraries to paving over potholes.

Those scenarios and hundreds of others could play out across New Jersey's 566 towns and nearly 600 school districts.

"This is going to be an extraordinary experience for people at the local level," said Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex), a reluctant partner in the compromise legislation shaped by Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester). "They will go to the polls and vote for an override in some instances, but that's not going to be the case in every community."

Wrinkles remain to be worked out before residents can take matters into their own hands. Still in flux is the governor's 33-bill "toolkit" designed to help local governments cut expenses, mostly through lowering public employee costs.

The final shape of that package could determine when local referendums are held on whether to override the property tax cap, Christie and lawmakers said Tuesday. Currently, voters' only say in property taxes is during local school elections, which Christie wants to shift from April to November.

After the new cap goes into effect in January, referendums on next year's school and municipal budgets could be scattered throughout the year.

While the law only permits exceptions for pension and health insurance costs, increased school enrollment and debt payments, there are no details yet on another provision that would allow tax increases over 2 percent: cases of a "state of emergency."

Christie and Sweeney said that will not become a catch-all excuse to circumvent the voters.

"We're talking about the kind of natural disasters that are emergencies — not like, 'It's an emergency, my teacher needs a raise,'" Christie said.

Sweeney said even layoffs of police officers would not be considered a state of emergency under the new law, and predicted such decisions would go to the voters.

But police and fire union leaders warned that would not preserve public safety, one of towns' costliest services.

"If you're really concerned about the taxpayer, then let's at least keep them alive. Let's keep them safe," said Bill Lavin, a firefighter union official.

Lisa Fleisher contributed to this report.

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With NJ property tax cap passed, some lawmakers already seeking changes

Posted: 14 Jul 2010 12:59 PM PDT

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Christie had said, at a news conference earlier in the month, he would oppose expanding local governments' authority to raise taxes.

Ben Dworkin, who runs a political science center at Rider University, said Democrats needed to be seen as advocates for property tax relief but nonetheless feel pressure from unions and other groups, such as parents who want more money for schools.

"It's not the final chapter on property tax debates in New Jersey," Dworkin said. "If parents start seeing 35 kids in a classroom, if they see layoffs, then there might be blowback."

The state's largest teachers union, which has battled with Christie all year, opposes the property tax cap.

New Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian watched the Assembly vote from the front row of the balcony overlooking the chamber. After the vote, she predicted it would have a "devastating effect" on public education.

During the session on Monday, Democrats said they wanted to add other exemptions to the property tax cap. Those would include exceptions for funds that must set aside when property owners don't pay their taxes, for decreased state aid, or for large expenses associated with teaching disabled children.

One Republican, Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon of Monmouth County, said he could consider more exemptions. Still, he said, this was one big step in helping slow the growth in the state's highest-in-the-nation property tax bill.

"There is a Chinese proverb that says, 'It takes many nails to shut a coffin.' This is one nail," O'Scanlon said.

Legislators will now turn their attention to a series of proposals that Christie calls his tool kit, aimed at reducing costs for local governments and schools.

Christie proposed the changes to the current property tax cap in his gubernatorial campaign last year. He called for a special session of the state Legislature over the July 4 holiday weekend before coming to an agreement with Democratic state Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, D-Gloucester.

The Senate approved Christie's version contained in a conditional veto last Thursday. The Assembly voted on the same measure today.

The bill caps, or limits, the annual increase in local property taxes at 2 percent but allows for exemptions in spending for health care; pensions; payments of debt and interest or capital expenditures; or in the case of emergencies.

Assembly Democrats noted that both pension and health care insurance costs are expected to rise by more than 20 percent in the coming year.

Democratic Assembly members Patrick J. Diegnan Jr. and John S. Wisniewski, both of Middlesex County; Annette Quijano of Union County; and Bonnie Watson Coleman of Mercer County voted against the tax cap Monday.

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N.J. property tax cap gives residents voting power over additional spending

Posted: 14 Jul 2010 03:43 AM PDT

Published: Wednesday, July 14, 2010, 6:30 AM