November 17, 2006

News from the Special Session on Property Tax Reform

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For any comments or questions, please contact Christopher Emigholz via e-mail at cemigholz@njbia.org, or by phone at 609-393-7707, ext. 201.

 

I wanted to quickly update you all on: 1) news from the special session on property tax reform, 2) an upcoming education event that might interest you and 3) an education grant for which some of you may be eligible. Please let me know your thoughts or questions on any of the included information. Thank you!

The following is included in this education network e-mail message.

4 Joint Committee Reports from Special Session on Property Tax Reform

To access each of the Legislature’s four Joint Committee reports, go to:

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/PropertyTaxSession/OPI/jcsf_Report111506.pdf
(School Aid Report)

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/PropertyTaxSession/OPI/jcgo_report111506.pdf (Consolidation Report)

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/PropertyTaxSession/OPI/jcpe_report111506.pdf (Pension/Benefits Report)

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/PropertyTaxSession/OPI/jccr_report111506.pdf
(Tax Report)

To keep members informed about how property tax reform will affect them, NJBIA has created a new Web page entitled Property Tax Facts to provide information and updates on the property tax reform debate. 

Press Release from Senate President Codey and Assembly Speaker Roberts about Special Session Reports

 

CODEY, ROBERTS: PROPERTY TAX SESSION REPORTS
OFFER IMMEDIATE RELIEF, LONG-TERM REFORMS

Senate President, Speaker Set Monday Joint Committee Votes;
Reforms Still on Path for Enactment Before Year's End


(TRENTON) -- Senate President Richard J. Codey and Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr., welcomed the receipt of voluminous, detailed reports that were provided to them today by the co-chairs of the four Joint Legislative Committees charged with recommending ways to rein in New Jersey's highest-in-the-nation property taxes.

Codey (D-Essex) and Roberts (D-Camden) heralded the release of the co-chairs' reports as the start of a new phase of the property tax reform process rather than the end of the special session effort. Codey and Roberts said the reports will be available on the Legislature's Web site at noon (www.njleg.state.nj.us).

The co-chairs' reports total 400 pages and contain 98 specific recommendations or courses of action to provide overburdened middle-income homeowners with new levels of immediate property tax relief and long-term structural reforms that will strengthen accountability, improve public schools, pare governmental redundancies, and curb wasteful and abusive spending practices.

"If the Rutgers' football team can erase the memory of decades of defeat in just a single season, we can do the same with property tax relief," said Codey. "The reports we received today will be our playbook for implementing legislation that will make these reforms real and sustainable.

“These reports are a blueprint for reform and relief," said Roberts. "It is now the Legislature's responsibility to take these findings and recommendations and turn them into action that will make a difference for New Jersey's long-beleaguered property taxpayers."

Three-month effort

Roberts and Codey said the reports are the product of a roughly three-month effort to examine the state's property tax problem and the structure of government and public schools in New Jersey. They noted that the joint committees held 41 hearings in just over 100 days, took testimony from 440 individuals, reviewed more than 8,000 pages of documentation, and received nearly 4,000 e-mails from the public.

"This process has been open, inclusive and innovative," said Roberts. "It's a structure for action that could be employed again in the future to address major problems confronting the state."

"This process was successful in achieving many of the goals we laid out at the onset -- public input, bipartisan cooperation, and a mutual understanding that we would leave no stone unturned," said Codey.

Chief among the reports' recommendations is a plan to provide a direct 20 percent property tax credit for the majority of New Jersey homeowners, the largest property tax reduction for working families in state history; and a framework for a fairer education formula that could be completed next month.

Timeline for action

Codey and Roberts said copies of the reports will be distributed to the press and will be made available this afternoon for public examination at the Legislature's Web site created for the Special Session on Property Tax Reform, which may be accessed at www.njleg.state.nj.us.

The legislative presiding officers said plans call for the respective joint committees to vote on the contents of the co-chairs' reports next week. Upon approval, the various recommendations will be crafted into specific legislative measures that will be in a position to be voted upon before the Legislature takes its annual winter holiday break later next month.

Praise for participants

Codey and Roberts applauded the co-chairs and members of the four joint committees that spent the past three months examining the state's property tax problem and taking testimony from academics, government experts, advocacy organizations, and taxpayers.

"This was truly a team effort to benefit New Jersey," said Roberts. "The level of cooperation and participation from the entire Legislature ensured from the outset that the products we received today would be comprehensive, far-reaching, and successful in delivering real, sustainable, and substantive property tax relief and reform for New Jersey taxpayers."

"The enthusiastic response from the public, from our committees, and from the Governor, has put us on the right track to produce honest and lasting reforms," said Codey. "Now it's time for the full Legislature to take these recommendations and transform them into legislation that will provide hardworking families with short-term relief and long-term confidence that they can afford to live and raise their children in New Jersey for years to come."

MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Constitutional Reform & Citizens Convention:
* 20% direct relief for most New Jersey homeowners
* Tax caps to control property tax increases
* Lays groundwork for State Comptroller
* Constitutional Convention unnecessary at this time if reforms are enacted

 

Government Consolidation & Shared Services:

* BRAC-type commission to consolidate government services subject to voter approval

* Streamlined shared services law

* "Super" County Supers & pilot county school districts

* Election reform for school boards & fire districts

* Lead by example: abolish defunct state boards & commissions & state departments like Commerce

 

Public Employee Benefits Reform:

* 401K-type defined contribution plans for all new part-time employees & elected officials

* Raise retirement age & shift to cost-saving pension calculations

* End padding, boosting, & tacking ("one job for one pension")

* No pensions for convicted public officials

 

Public School Funding Reform:

* New school formula based on needs of students, not geographic location

* State assumes greater responsibility for funding public education

* School formula weighted to benefiting senior citizens -- new formula calculates district's ability to pay factoring in town's percentage of seniors

* New accountability measures and spending controls, including spending caps and travel & perk restrictions for school superintendents

Information on Upcoming Statewide Conference on Civics Education

The New Jersey Center for Civic and Law-Related Education

Rutgers—The State University of New Jersey

Arlene L. Gardner, Esq., Executive Director

Lucy Stone Hall B303-311                                 VOICE:  732-445-3413/3414

Piscataway, NJ 08854                                       FAX:  732-445-3420

http://civiced.rutgers.edu                                 E-MAIL:  agardner@njclre.rutgers.edu

                                                                                                                               

October 2006

Dear Colleague:

The New Jersey Coalition to Support the Civic Mission of Schools invites you to participate in a statewide New Jersey Conference on Civic Engagement at the Busch Campus Center in Piscataway, NJ on Tuesday, December 5, 2006, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  The conference will include concurrent classroom demonstrations of promising civic education programs, as well as small group discussions about research, policy changes and community support.  Our ultimate goal is to help schools fulfill their civic mission—to ensure that our young people have the knowledge, skills and interest to be informed, engaged citizens.

A variety of recent reports have indicate that our young people are not well informed about current public policy issues, do not vote and are distrustful of government (See, e.g., “The Civic Mission of Schools,” The Carnegie Corp and CIRCLE, 2003). Studies also show that most people believe that preparing students to be competent and responsible citizens is a very important goal of public schools, on par with preparing students for college and work (See www.representativedemocracy.org/civicedsurveyreport.pdf for “From Classroom to Citizen: American Attitudes on Civic Education,” Alliance for Representative Democracy, 2004) and that high quality civic education can increase the likelihood of creating informed, involved citizens (See, e.g., “Citizenship: A Challenge for All Generations,” National Council of State Legislatures, 2004).  The New Jersey Coalition to Support the Civic Mission of Schools, which was created by concerned educators, public policy makers and citizens, conducted a statewide inventory of civic education in New Jersey in the fall of 2004, which revealed that less than forty percent of our students take a civics or government class and that most students obtain their knowledge about public policy in a few class periods or several weeks of U.S. History.  For the full report and more information about the coalition, see the website at http://civiced.rutgers.edu/CIVIC/index.htm. 

Why should you care about this?  Because a competent, vigilant citizenry is the backbone of our democracy and the source of future public leaders. 

Help us to identify the changes we need to ensure that our students have the knowledge, skills and motivation to be informed, engaged citizens. Join or be part of a team from your district along with teachers, school administrators, superintendents, school board members, parents, high school students, mayors, members of town councils, members of civic organization, and local businesspersons or representatives of corporations.  There is no cost for anyone to participate in this conference. However, if you would like to make a contribution to support the conference and the work of the Coalition, send a check made out to “NJCLRE,” a 501c3 non-profit and the fiscal agent for the Coalition, to the address above. Contributors will be acknowledged in the program.

To register, complete the attached registration form and return it to address above or email it to mdunn@njclre.rutgers.edu.  For additional information or questions about the conference or the Coalition, please call 732-445-3413. 

Sincerely yours,

Arlene L. Gardner

 

Information on Innovation Partnership Institutes Grant

At http://www.statenj.us/highereducation/NGO.htm, check on this new grant opportunity. The first deadline is probably impossible for most of you, but the second deadline is more feasible. Below is a description of the grant opportunity. Please let me know if I can be of assistance with this.

Governor Corzine’s recently announced Economic Growth Strategy for New Jersey identifies six priorities for growth and articulates the specific action steps state government will take in partnership with the state’s business, labor, education and community leaders. One of the Governor’s priorities is to foster collaborations between the state’s key business sectors and educational institutions. A significant result of such improved relationships should be new curricula for New Jersey’s secondary schools and higher education system, which will better meet the needs of the state’s employers for a workforce with the skills required by the innovation based economy.

States that have been successful in creating and sustaining viable economic development policies have at their core, strong linkages involving industry, state and local educational systems, and government. The private sector will invest in relationships with high schools and colleges and universities if they can see the benefit of these partnerships.

By developing formal relationships with industry, the state’s education community will be able to better respond to the educational and workforce challenges of a rapidly-changing economy.

Furthermore, fostering dialogue between industry and education leaders will provide an opportunity for vocational and technical schools, comprehensive high schools, and higher education institutions to keep their curricula relevant and current so that students and workers can acquire skills and knowledge that will be valued in the workplace.

Through this Notice of Grant Opportunity, state government is playing the role of intermediary to encourage substantive partnerships between the state’s business community and educational system. Such collaborations will result in establishing Innovation Partnership Institutes in Fiscal Year 2007 for three industry sectors identified by the Governor’s Office of Economic Growth as offering current employment opportunities in jobs that provide high wages, good benefits, and a viable career ladder within the industry: Financial Services, Information Technology, and Bio-Technology / Pharmaceutical.

The initial award will be made to one consortium in the Financial Services sector in January 2007. The subsequent two awards for the Information Technology and Bio- Technology/Pharmaceutical sectors will be made in April 2007. Additional industry sectors will be addressed during the competitive application process in Fiscal Year 2008. This Notice of Grant Opportunity is managed by the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, with funding from the state’s Department of Education and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. These three agencies will collaborate in selecting and awarding the grants.

 

 

NJBIA - Serving More than 23,000 Member Companies

The following e-mail has been sent to you because you opted to join an NJBIA issue network or because you are a member of an NJBIA policy committee.  It contains information we believe you will find useful.  If you have questions about your NJBIA membership, contact Lynn Sabo at 609-393-7707, ext. 238, or via e-mail at lsabo@njbia.org.  New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA), 102 West State Street, Trenton, NJ, 08608. www.njbia.org.