" As we try to find ways to alleviate
the burden of our local property taxes; an area of opportunity is to remove the
portion of the property tax bill that goes to the local school district and
replace it with full state or federal funding.
We could replace the education
portion of the property tax bill with a comparable increase in the payroll tax
that would be spread across all who are employed by N.J. businesses."
So wrote our Mayor after giving several examples where the
Federal Government has provided funds for specific mandated education programs.
His given reasoning is as wrong as his reasoning why it
should not be a municipality’s charge to be responsible for the education of
its children.
The fact that perhaps the majority do not spend their adult life
in that municipality should not excuse the municipality from fulfilling its
duty.
If that portion of the “city” tax is onerous perhaps the
answer is that the Board of Education should be completely transparent in its
budget and receptive to taxpayer’s review.
A community like Plainfield where its own government lacks
transparency and maybe honesty should not expect it from affiliated entities.
Neither occurs in Plainfield. Yes, we get a copy of the auditor’s
report, but that does not indicate any nepotism or if open bidding is required
to employ vendors. Yes, there has to be Council approval of the budget after
hearings but we are dealing with a captive Council.
If the Mayor thinks that increasing the payroll tax will
reduce the overall burden on taxpayers or not drive industry out of New Jersey
he probably also accepts the claim that Mexico will pay for the Wall.
Where is the OPRA information on the Hawaii trip?
ReplyDeletePlease stop bringing Trump into every argument.
He has nothing to do with this.
Doc - Anonymous The educational soiree to Hawaii cost the taxpayers a little over $30,000. The six guests got a free trip. The spouses of the Mayor and his crew who accompanied them paid their own own airfare.
ReplyDeleteAs to taxes when will the abundance of PILOT projects produce sufficient revenue to reduce property taxes? It would be appropriate for the Administration to furnish the Council and the citizenry with a tabulation of the projected income from each project and the realized income. Also, what the revenues would have been had the PILOT program not been initiated? In estimating the "would have been" annual income an adjustment should be included for inflation. Are the PILOT deals tied to CPI ( Cost Price Index) which is determined by inflation? A dollar in 30 years will have probably depreciated about 70% from todays value. Bill Kruse