Point Pleasant Tax Revolt

I recently received a heads up from the folks at George Mason regarding this blog post by Eileen Norcross. The problem and the story are pretty clear:

Residents in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey have resorted to a seldom-used method to protest their mayor’s proposal to raise taxes: they want him recalled from office. The recall petition containing 1,250 signatures was approved this week, giving Mayor Vincent Barella until July 22 to mount a challenge to the motion being placed on the ballot in November.

The movement to recall Mayor Barella began in the fall, after he asked the state government permission to levy local special options taxes on beach badges, paid parking lots, and alcohol — and more controversially, proposed parking fees on all neighborhood streets — to meet the $11.5 $1.5 million gap in the borough’s budget.

I caught wind of this story when I was travelling the other day. The article is a pretty good description of what can happen when a state and municipality maintain a dysfunctional financial relationship. It is well worth the read.

More interesting inherent in the discussion is the problem between cutting spending and raising taxes. No one wants to pay more taxes. That is why Barack Obama has been so effective at neutralizing this issue by saying that the "RICH GUY" will pay the bill. But folks are finding out that even when the rich guy pays the bill, he often just passes it along to you. For example, if the pizza parlor owner on the boardwalk is asked to pay more on his taxes, he and every other pizza parlor owner is going to raise the price of pizza a dollar or two. You can feel good that you "Socked it to the rich guy" but all he did was stick it right back at you. So whether the government collects it, or business passes it on, or the rich guy moves away, someone has to pay the bill.

In addition, Point Pleasant's situation is also comical on the spending side. When the proposal to cut back on the number of the city's police, residents balk. Well, again, you can't have it both ways. Cuts mean cuts. So you either cut the force or find another way to pay for it. Norcross made an excellent point here:

An excellent solution comes from Stanley Fischer, one of the petition’s authors. The beaches and boardwalks belong to the bars, amusement parks and pavilions. To deal with the summer partygoer crowd, let the boardwalk businesses hire additional police. Good idea, and it can be taken further. Point Pleasant need only look to neighboring Seaside Heights’ Business Improvement District. There are already about 80 Special Improvement Districts in the state.

Maybe Point Pleasant is a good example of individual citizens coming together and trying to come up with some good ideas to solve real (not imagined) problems. It's a shame the congress cannot seem to do the same.

We will follow this story as it develops. Hat tip to the Public Affairs team at George Mason!

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The Real Meaning of the Tea Party Movement

Certain events cause you to think about what is going on in the world today and where you came from. Well over a year ago, Jake and I created this blog as a response to the New Jersey Governor and legislature's implementation of their massive sales tax increase. Early commenters treated us with a "grow up" kind of disdain. I am sure that their reasoning said that New Jersey citizens have always been apathetic to taxes and this would never change. We always believed that if people only knew the facts, they would respond and rise up against a culture of corrupt government that only serves itself and the politically connected. And never serves the taxpayer.

Fast forward almost two years. On April 15, we are likely to see a demonstration that none of us has ever experienced. You see, the tax tea party movement is not a pack of liberal professional protestors. It also is not a bunch of hippies looking to revisit the glory days of the 60's. The movement is made up of regular people who have not responded as expected to the anti-wealth rhetoric of the current administration and their liberal colleagues in the states.

I have been getting a steady stream of emails since our first posting of the tea party locations. While the comments section shows a lot of anonymous posters, these folks send us mails looking for help, offerring to volunteer and are generally disgusted by our state and the state of the federal government.

The media is trying to paint the tea party movement as a bunch of conservative kooks. It is clear to me that there is nothing kooky about what is going on. This movement is made up of honest, hard working, normal people who don't appreaciate the "changes" that we are supposed to believe in.

I think that the issue is that Americans at heart aspire to do better than their parents and even themselves. We are always striving to work hard and make sacrifices for our families. We don't resent the guy or lady in the fancy car that drives by, we strive to be that person. And we do not appreciate a president or governor that assumes that we want someone to take care of us. Thanks Barack and John, we will take care of ourselves thank you.

We all knew who brought us to this point and many of the same people who caused the current crisis are bathing in earmarks right now as a byproduct of the president's policies. Sure, Bush played a part. However, he has left the stage. What about those who would blame Bush but carry far more of the blame than he ever did? They are still on the stage, profiting from the crisis. Dodd. Frank. Schumer. Why don't they leave the stage?

And in the end, who is left holding the bag? Us. Hence the tea party movement.

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Latest Tea Party List

From Taxdayteaparty.com:

City: Belmar
When: April 15, Noon - 3:00pm
Where: 16th Avenue boardwalk

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City: Flemington
When: April 15, Noon - 2:00pm
Where: The northwest corner of Main Street and Court Street
Contact: flemingtonteaparty@gmail.com
Other Info: http://flemingtonteaparty.blogspot.com/
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City: Hackensack
When: April 15, 4:00 pm - 6:00pm
Where: Bergen County Court House, Hackensack, NJ (Court Street Side)
Contact: rratwt@optonline.net
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City: Jersey City
When: April 15:Cancelled
Contact: adcjul@aol.com
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City: Morristown
When: April 15, Noon
Where: On The Green at the center of Morristown
Contact: jeffreymw@gmail.com
Other Info: http://morristownteaparty.blogivists.com/planning-meetings/
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City: Newark
When: April 15, 12:00 pm
Where: Gateway Center One - 782 McCarter Highway, Newark Offices of Senator Lautenberg and Menendez conveniently located in the same building.
Other Info:Parking: 66 Edison Place, Newark
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City: Piscataway
When: April 15, 5:00pm
Where: Johnson Park (River Road, Piscataway Township)
Other Info:http://www.americansforprosperity.org/032409-new-jersey-tax-day-tea-party
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City: Trenton
When: April 15, 11:30am - 4:00pm
Where: New Jersey State House, 125 W State St
Email: bkkteaparty@gmail.com
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City: Vineland
When: April 15th, 1-4PM
Where: 722 E Landis Avenue, Vineland, NJ 08360
E-mail: t@thomassnow.com
Phone: 973-406-4688
Web Site: http://tomsnow.serveblog.net

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Announcement - Another Tea Party - AFP Piscataway

Our loyal readers have been asking for more tea party info. Here is another event guaranteed to be solid turnout. From American's For Prosperity:


AFP-NJ Announces Taxpayer Tea Party to Protest Gov. Corzines’s Tax Hikes, April 15

New Jersey citizens urge Corzine to reduce spending, reject stimulus money



Join AFP-NJ along with grassroots activists across the country on April 15th at 5PM for a Taxpayer Tea Party to protest Governor Corzine’s proposed tax hikes.
NJ has the worst tax climate in the nation, and yet Governor Corzine continues to rely on tax revenues to support the state’s overgrown budget. This tradition has left us poorly positioned to deal with the economic recession.
Even with the so-called stimulus funds that are coming to New Jersey-- totaling $2 billion-- Governor Corzine has introduced a FY 2010 state budget with a $7 billion deficit, and massive tax hikes to go along with it.
Governor Corzine continues to increase taxes—it is the same mistake over and over again. Taxpayers have carried the burden of these mistakes long enough-- It’s critical to fight back against this proposed budget and its tax hikes!
Urge Governor Corzine and state legislators to take the first step in mending this $7 billion deficit by cutting the size of the state budget and planning for New Jersey’s financial future.

What: Taxpayer Tea Party
Who: Americans for Prosperity
When: Wednesday, April 15, 5:00pm
Where: Johnson Park ( River Road, Piscataway Township)

For more information or to register, click here or call 201-487-8844.

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West New York, NJ 27% Tax Increase Nightmare!

Last night we received an email from a reader(We witheld the name, not the writer):

I'm not sure if you've read about a town called West New York, NJ but we've recently been hit with a 27% tax increase. Is this even legal? The town website explains its due to a deficit. Please provide some if any feedback.

Thanks

Before I go on to explain what is going on in the town, I should answer the question. What your town has done is absolutely legal. Towns all across New Jersey have been raising taxes for the past 12 years almost at will. They can raise your taxes property taxes for any reason:

- town expenses go up like garbage pickup
- pension costs for town employees increase
- an unfunded pet projects by a city council
- general budget deficits caused by mismanagement
- on and on and on

In addition to this, the town can through a variety of means increase your taxes not by raising the tax rate but by re-assessing your property for reasons such as building improvements, non-building improvements (a new fence or deck) or because your property value is deemed below market rate outside of a threshold.

Only school expenditures and significant borrowing (I love that one because a town can just spend the money without borrowing and then raise taxes due to the operational deficit) require voter approval. And as most people in New Jersey know of should know, after you reject the school budget the state can come in and declare your rejection of that same budget as invalid (as happened all over NJ last year).

The net is that the only way to force change in your town is to remove the offending town officials via ballot or impeachment if your town charter allows it.

For those of you who have not heard this story, this article from wcbstv.com will make it clear. Here is the gist of the story:

WEST NEW YORK, N.J. (CBS) ― Angry residents in West New York packed a town meeting Thursday to protest a 27-percent tax hike.

Among the residents there was Sila Rodriquez, who said her blood pressure is going through the roof because she can't afford her property taxes.

"[It's] scary because our income is too low," Rodriguez said.

Rodriquez and her husband said they've seen an $800 increase in their property taxes this quarter. They anticipate paying an extra $3,000 this year.

"We have to lose the house because this is unbelievable," she said.

I looked up the town stats (here) on City-Data and found this information to support what is said in the article:

Estimated median household income in 2007: $40,999 (it was $31,980 in 2000)

West New York: $40,999
New Jersey: $67,035


Estimated median house or condo value in 2007: $435,115 (it was $168,900 in 2000)
West New York: $435,115
New Jersey: $372,300

These poor people are well below the New Jersey income level but are well above the state average in terms of housing. I suspect this chart may have something to do with the revenue shortfall. Maybe the local politicians thought this housing value growth was going to last forever and spent as such.




This situation is sad but all too common. It is the result of the absolutely abysmal management of the state, massive government expansion and spending directed by Trenton politicians and questionable spending policies by local governments around the state. It has also been fed by a tremendous amount of corruption at every level of local and state government.

It is also the reason why we started this blog site. It is also the reason that New Jersey needs a top to bottom scrubbing of government.

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