NJ Property Taxes Feel Out of Control
Here's What's Behind it
By: David M. Zimmer
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... A property tax bill toping 410,500 a year invites a simple question: What is costing so much?
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For many New Jersey homeowners, the answer can feel obvious. Somewhere, there must be a padded contract, a duplicated office or a program that could be cut without much consequences.
..... The harder part is finding a cut big enough to matte that does not touch the services people rely on.
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Part of the challenge is how New Jersey is built.
..... The state has 21 counties, 564 municipality and hundreds of school districts, each with its own administration, payroll and obbligato. That means separate police departments, separate pubic works crews, separate school administration and separate legal and finance offices operating side by side.
..... Those costs add up, even when towns try to share services.
..... "There are some efficiencies to be gained through shared services or consolation," said Peter Chen, a senior policy analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective. "But it's not clear how much money there is to be save once you get beyond the smallest systems."
..... The state has tired to push local governments in that direction. through the Lola efficiency achievement portage, officials say, government have save about $3 for every $1 in state grants sued to combine services or reduce duplication.
..... Counties are unceasingly taking on services once handled locally, said John Donnadio, executive director of the new Jersey Association of Counties. That includes regional 911 dispatch, EMS, public health and other services hat some municipalities can no longer afford to provide on their own.
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Donnadio pointed to Gloucester County, which he said saves about $20 million a year through a share jail arrangement with Salem County. He also cited county-run dispatch, EMS and property tax assessment as examples of services that can be handled more efficiently at a regional level.
..... "Home rule has run its course," Donnadio said. "We've really got to take a hard look at realizing all of those services."
..... But rationalizing municipal and county services goes only so far.
..... In New Jersey, schools typically take the largest share of the property tax bill, often more than half. School budgets are largely split between local property-taxes and state aid, with the state providing more support in communities with less ability to raise money locally, according to an analysis by Mark Weber, a Rutgers lecturer who studies public school finance.
..... That means the school-funding system moves money across districts based on local wealth and tax capacity. It does not simply reduce the overall cost of teachers, staff, transportation, buildings and benefits.
..... "If you want to maintain the number of teachers and the level of services people expect, the cost is the cost," Chen said.
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None of that means waste is imaginary.
..... Local budgets still deserve close scrutiny, especially when it comes to contacts, procurement, overtime, outside legal bills and no-bid agreements. Those are the places where waste can hide and where public oversight matters.
..... But even real waste does not necessarily explain the ordinary mechanics of a property tax bill.
..... "There going to be some amount of waste in any system,: teen said. "But the main costs are real and tied to the services people want."