Middle-Class Taxpayers Risk Losing Promised Property Tax Relief
Senator Andy Ciesla (R-10) responded to comments made by Governor Corzine yesterday that property tax rebates are among the items considered for elimination to close an anticipated budget deficit next year. When asked if the rebate program might be eliminated, Corzine responded, “We’re hopeful that we will be able to sustain it, but I can’t promise anything in this environment.”
“When Governor Corzine signed his sales tax increase into law in 2006, middle-class property taxpayers were told that revenue generated by the sales tax would fund their property tax rebates,” said Ciesla. “It was with that assurance that voters approved a constitutional amendment that fall to dedicate half a percent of sales tax revenue exclusively to property tax relief. Is Governor Corzine now stating that he believes that property tax rebates are not constitutionally dedicated? If the answer is ‘No,’ what exactly does the Governor believe that voters approved?”
While Governor Corzine now states that he “can’t promise anything in this environment,” he has made plenty of promises in the past. While campaigning to become Governor, he promised to “ensure lasting [property tax] relief by hard-wiring rebates into the state budget in a responsible way that can be paid for without raising other state taxes.” That promise fell when he supported and signed the law that raised the state sales tax to 7%, claiming that the sales tax increase was necessary to support property tax relief.
“Governor Corzine broke his promise to the public when he supported a sales tax increase to fund rebates, and it’s hard to believe that he now has the audacity to suggest that eliminating rebates is even under consideration,” said Ciesla. “If Governor Corzine tries to eliminate property tax rebates, will he also try to roll back the sales tax increase that he championed to fund the rebate program?”
Ciesla also noted that Governor Corzine repeatedly campaigned on the promise that his “REAL plan for property tax relief will grow rebates 10 percent per year — or 40 percent over four years.”
“Governor Corzine campaigned on a promise to increase rebates, but instead, he eliminated them for many people and slashed them for the rest last year,” added Ciesla. “The rebate program is on life support, and only Governor Corzine knows if he will pull the plug on the program. Was property tax relief just another broken Corzine promise?”
Link to Post:
http://www.senatenj.com/index.php/ciesla/property-tax-relief-another-broken-corzine-promise/1500
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March 17, 2009
