Your Turn

David Stahl
Guest Column

The high burden of property taxes was a dominant issue throughout New Jersey when I first ran for Township Council in East Brunswick some five years ago, and this issue remains the most troublesome concern today.

Our state legislators have promised tax reform for decades and recently have heralded the progress they have made this past year. But what legitimate, lasting tax reform has really taken place in Trenton? Not much, I am afraid. Oh, yes, many of us will receive a rebate on our property taxes, but this relief is only guaranteed for one year, as future funding remains doubtful. Let us not forget that the additional sales taxes we have been required to pay actually decrease the true value of any property-tax rebate check one might receive.

There have been no real solutions for the problem of how we fund our schools, as we still remain dependent on property taxes for that funding goal. There have been no real solutions as to the ever-growing problem with respect to state pensions. In fact, that funding deficit for the pension system keeps growing daily depending on what the real accounting numbers are (or are not).

Thus, to those in Trenton who hail their accomplishments as a success, I say that we are not fooled - we will just have to reach deeper into our pockets to continue to pay the tax bills. Put the Band-Aids away; let's look for real, lasting solutions.

Financial difficulties are not only Trenton's problem, they also exist here in East Brunswick, just as ever-increasing costs affect all of us in our homes. At the municipal level, I have urged at council meetings that we must recognize not only our short-term financial picture, but we must look at potential revenue shortfalls in the not-too-distant future that have the potential to seriously affect our future tax rates. Financial prudence in this ever-changing economic environment demands forward thinking and planning, not looking into the rear-view mirror and relying on what has worked in the past, as too many of my council colleagues want to do. The past is a great guide, but blindness to the past is a recipe for failure.

We must be ever-diligent in ensuring that our debt does not rapidly increase, as rising interest rates combined with the loss of tax revenues will ensure that the burden of this debt will fall upon our children. We must re-evaluate all programs to ensure that every one is truly needed and operated as efficiently as possible. We must ensure that all municipal departments are staffed in the most efficient manner and look for further consolidation as jobs are lost through natural attrition. We know that our commercial tax base continues to shrink despite new businesses opening in East Brunswick.

Our failure to have property values reassessed in more than 20 years and the resulting loss of those commercial tax revenues place a further financial burden upon our residential taxpayers as they are called upon to make up the ever-increasing difference.

Health-care costs present a problem for all levels of government. Fortunately, at the municipal level in East Brunswick, we enjoy tremendous savings because we have established a self-insurance plan that provides terrific benefits for township employees yet costs much less than similar insurance in the private marketplace.

The Board of Education spends considerably much more per employee than the township does for health insurance because in the past it was not permitted to discuss shared services with the township on this issue. Fortunately, the state law has changed in the past year.

I strongly urge once again that Mayor Bill Neary and the board immediately commence discussions on a joint initiative on the health-care issue for employees of the school system, as shared services there could result in millions of dollars of savings to our East Brunswick taxpayers. Any failure to address that potential savings is just as problematic for me as the failure of our leaders in Trenton to address the property-tax issue.

Recognizing problems is quite different than finding solutions. In many situations, answers are easy; in rare times, there are no solutions. In some instances, there may be difficult and painful solutions that, while not popular, may be what are absolutely needed and required.

I started by stating that Trenton has failed us on the property-tax issue because in my opinion, the Legislature, as a collective body, did not find the courage to do what is needed; it found only the strength to do what it thought it could do without damaging its political future.

I only hope that we in East Brunswick find the courage to look for solutions that are needed now.

David Stahl is a member of the East Brunswick Township Council