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Quote of the Day

December 10, 2009

Laura Waters

I think all schools should be funded through the state. New Jersey needs to get away from home rule. We can’t afford home rule anymore.

Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello on the New Jersey League of Municipalities’ campaign to fund schools through an income-based tax rather than through property taxes. (However, experts cited in the Trenton Times piece say that income taxes won’t come close to covering the school tab, which came to about $12.4 billion in 2008.)

Laura Waters

2 Comments

Bruce, December 10, 2009 @ 5:30 pm Reply

This issue is also one of maintaining a balanced portfolio of revenue sources for schools. Income tax revenues are highly elastic to economic cycles, especially in states where large shares of income tax revenues are generated from investment income and other Wall St. sources (bonuses, etc.). Sales taxes are less so, but did tank this time around – not so much in the 2001 to 2003 downturn. Property taxes are the stable underlying piece of the puzzle. In the worst case, property tax revenues may flatten out or decline slightly but on a relatively long lag.

NJ might be due for some re-balancing of the portfolio, but going high risk by dumping or too dramatically reducing the property tax would put NJ public schools on very shaky ground.
NJ Left Behind, December 11, 2009 @ 3:21 pm Reply

I agree. We need some long-term, stable source of income. Property taxes, though, have their own share of problems and create their own set of woes.