An opinion piece from the Hammonton News:

2006 property tax relief was only a mirage

The state is between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand, tax revenues are way down, and the state faces a $6 billion deficit next year because of the recession. On the other, there’s a gigantic state government and hundreds of local governments, school districts and other public entities in this state that take tens of billions of dollars to operate.

Facing dire economic times, it should surprise no one Gov. Jon S. Corzine is looking at doing away with property tax rebates most New Jersey homeowners receive. The rebates cost about $1.7 billion, and the state faces a $6 billion budget deficit for 2010.

But just because the recession is so profound, lawmakers shouldn’t be let off the hook for their failure.

If they had done tax reform the right way — by reforming government spending — the deficit might not be as large. Lawmakers might not have to increase property taxes, which is what taking away the rebates effectively would mean.

When they approved rebates in 2006, state lawmakers said they had a permanent solution to our highest-in-the-nation property taxes, which now average $6,800 annually for every homeowner.

The lawmakers instituted rebates — 20 percent back for households that earn less than $100,000; 15 percent back for households earning between $100,000 and $150,000, and 10 percent back for those earning between $150,000 and $250,000.

From the moment lawmakers approved rebates, we had doubts. How could rebates that could be taken away at any time, such as during an economic downturn, constitute permanent property tax relief? Only lowering property tax rates, so people actually pay less, would constitute permanent relief.

The rebates already are pared down for those in the $100,000 to $150,000 range, and they’re gone completely for households that earn more than $150,000. That happened after they were just a year old. Now, the rebates could be gone for everyone by next year.

If that happens, it will be as if our lawmakers did nothing after all their big talk in 2005 and 2006 about lasting tax relief. They didn’t fundamentally change our government and make it smaller and less costly, and they didn’t give us permanent property tax relief. They will have failed us.