Coda
In Trenton, the lunatics are running the asylum
Greg Bean

I think I can finally render a professional diagnosis: All the legislators in Trenton are clinically insane.

There's a quote variously attributed to Albert Einstein, Rudyard Kipling and Rita Mae Brown that says, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different outcome."

There's also an interesting corollary: "Negligence is defined as doing the same thing over and over again, even though you know that it is dangerous, stupid, or wrong."

So, not only are the legislators down there in Moonbatville completely, certifiably loony, they're negligent into the bargain.

I'm speaking, of course, about the so-called $2 billion in property tax relief approved by the New Jersey Senate recently, the big-deal boondoggle that everyone down there seems so proud of.

Do you remember last fall when those four committees studying the property tax crisis in this state came up with 98 proposals for reform? And do you remember how Gov. Jon Corzine and the Legislature treated those proposals the same way George W. Bush treated the ideas put forward by the Iraq Study Group - by thanking everyone involved before dropping the proposals in the trash and going back to the comics section?

Only eight of those 98 proposals ever made it to the Senate and the Assembly for discussion, and none of them, to my knowledge, was passed to become law. Both Corzine and the Legislature wimped out when it came time to cowboy up and make changes that were necessary, but politically unpopular with many special interest groups - groups like the state's public workers, who turned out in droves on a workday to protest. In the end, they simply didn't have the will to do what needed to be done.

Instead, our lawmakers have spent the last two months coming up with a $2 billion property tax relief program so nutty only a bunch of squirrels could love it.

According to most reports about the tax relief plan, homeowners in New Jersey will get credits ranging up to $2,000. There will be a 20 percent break for people who earn up to $100,000 a year, a 15 percent break for those making up to $150,000 and a 10 percent break for those earning up to $250,000. The relief would be capped at $2,000 per homeowner, as opposed to last year's maximum property tax rebate of $350.

The relief, according to the plan, will come in the form of rebate checks. In other words, they aren't really planning to cut the amount of tax we pay to start with, they're just going to give a little more of it back. For most homeowners - those making up to $150,000 a year - that means a rebate check this year between $900 and $1,100, depending on where you live.

At least that's how it will work in theory. Unfortunately, I have an ugly suspicion the reality will be quite different.

Last summer, when the state was facing a $4.5 billion budget shortfall, one of the first proposals made to make up the difference was to do away with our property tax rebates. And if the state didn't have enough cash on hand to send back rebates that capped at $350, does anyone out there really think there'll be enough to send rebates that max out at $2,000?

Did they suddenly discover a big pile of money down there nobody knew about?

No, not exactly. Corzine says some of the money will come from the revenue of the sales tax hike approved last year and some will come from the pot already being drained to fund the existing rebates. The rest, he says, will come from the sale of a major state asset, like the New Jersey Turnpike ("Hey buddy, wanna buy a turnpike?"), and perhaps from other sources like video slot machines. And naturally, some will have to come from new local taxes.

In other words, he's draining the checking account, selling the farm and opening a Keno parlor. And, as an added bonus, we can all look forward to increased local taxes.

Gee, thanks, Jon.

Like everyone out there who owns a home, I'm sure I'll enjoy getting my rebate check when it arrives. There aren't many of us who can't use a little bump in the bank account.

But what happens next year, when instead of a $4.5 billion shortfall, there's a $6 billion shortfall? Or a couple of years after that, when we run out of roads to sell and are looking at an $8 billion shortfall?

How long do you think this rebate program will survive then? About three seconds, that's how long. Ten seconds if Corzine happens to be on the phone when the bill to rescind the rebate crosses his desk for signing. At the first sign of trouble, our lawmakers will kill this rebate program quicker than a mouse running through a pan of hot grease.

Truth is, this is a scam, a shell game. It's a feel-good scam, to be sure, but it's a shell game all the same.

Without real property tax reform, the long-term prospects for relief from the bunch in Trenton are about as good as the proverbial snowball in Hades. From them, all we'll get is gimmicks and geegaws like this rebate to distract our attention from the fact that they've not only dropped the ball, they've stomped that sucker flat.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If these folks aren't going to help us, we'll have to help ourselves.

When Jon Corzine was running for governor, he said that if the Legislature failed to pass real property tax relief measures by Jan. 1, 2007, he would call for a citizens convention to be on the ballot in 2007. That convention would take the matter of property tax reform out of the hands of politicians and put it in the hands of the people actually earning the money - us.

Well, it's mid-February, nearly seven weeks after the Jan. 1 deadline, and if you believe this nonsense is real property tax reform, there are a bunch of carnival barkers in Dubuque, Iowa, who'd like you to take a chance at their Whack-A-Mole game.

So call or write your Assembly representative or senator today, and demand they call for a citizens convention on property tax reform to be placed on the ballot this year. We can no longer leave meaningful property tax reform up to our representatives, because they are all - unfortunately - insane.

Gregory Bean is executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers. You can reach him at gbean@gmnews.com.