Governor Chris Christie will propose an amendment to the New Jersey constitution to limit annual property-tax hikes to 2.5 percent, and a budget that will cut spending by 9 percent and seek fundamental changes in how governments in New Jersey spend their money.
Currently, property-tax increases are supposed to be limited to 4 percent, but communities routinely waive that limit on the rationale of meeting rising health-insurance costs or debt payments. The proposed amendment would limit increases to 2.5 percent and would have no exceptions, without the direct consent of the voters in a public question.
This comes in the wake of a number of budgetary and political problems plaguing states. On Friday, Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn called for the state to borrow $4.7 billion. Arizona in its quest to cut billions of dollars in order to balance the budget, has cut all day kindergarten, services for the handicapped and programs for the developmentally disabled. Now State lawmakers are proposing tax breaks for many out of state corporations such as Target.
Yet, Christie’s approach seems to mirror approaches seen in Washington state and California where state initiatives have tied the hands of legislators. In each respective states voters, in certain instances, must be consulted before tax increases are approved. This has led Washington state to reconsider and California remains politically-gridlocked, New Jersey may want to think twice before and consult other states before acting,
No comments:
Post a Comment