The big story in New Jersey today was Governor Corzine’s proposed state budget. You can read his speech here. To summarize, New Jerseyans will be looking at higher sales tax, increased tax on cigarettes and liquor, increased tax on luxuries like limousine services and tanning salons, possibly increased property taxes even after rebates, and no increase in state assistance to schools, and elimination of state income tax for those with less than $30,000 in annual income.
If you’re one of the many who travel from New York to New Jersey to purchase clothing without sales tax, you do not need to worry. Clothing will still be tax-free in the state.
Looking beyond politics, here are the principles on which Corzine says he has based the budget proposal:
- We must stop spending more than we take in.
- We must stop borrowing and using gimmicks to pay today’s bills.
- We must rely much more heavily on cuts in spending and savings than new revenues to balance our books, and
- We must be smart in finding ways to mitigate the impact of these cuts to protect the most vulnerable in our state.
To translate, Corzine wants the state’s philosphy to emphasize living below your means, refraining from using one credit card to pay off another, focusing on expenses rather than the less flexible income, and helping to look after those who need assistance.
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I was on the Branchburg Board of Education and submitted an idea to the County Superintendent that he said could not be implemented due to state statute. My proposal was to consolidate school districts at the Superintendent and Business Administration level and have sub-districts report to them that continue to operate in the same configuration. I had used the example of Branchburg and Somerville. There could be consolidated district with one Supt/BA and their staff and the districts below them remain in tact, but the two districts together save probably $500,000 in admin costs. The sticking point across NJ is home rule, but this could be a start. If it works, then districts may be more amenable to full regionalization and consolidation. We must start somewhere and with the scarcity of supts and BAs causing a run-up in salaries for those positions, this is a good place to start. If you wish to discuss, please e-mail me at the address above. Thanks.