From the Courier Post Online:
Living costs in N.J. have gotten out of hand
It’s high property taxes that make New Jersey the most expensive place in America to own a home.
If New Jersey’s state lawmakers don’t do something about our oppressively high property taxes, this state could well face an unprecedented migration as New Jerseyans, especially retirees, single adults and young couples, realize they simply cannot afford to live as well as they once did or as well as their parents did in the state they’ve always called home. That’s sad and it shouldn’t be the case.
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Our state lawmakers say they get it. No matter where they’re from or what political party they belong to, state senators and Assembly members are fond of saying that what they hear most from constituents are complaints about property taxes.Well, it’s time they stopped repeating what we already know. It’s time they quit putting off the problem for another day and avoiding the legions of sacred cows (including labor unions, government consolidation and the so-called home-rule tradition). It’s time they did something drastic to significantly lower our highest-in-the-nation property taxes.
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The evidence couldn’t be more clear if it were plastered on billboards up and down the New Jersey Turnpike. Our state has become too expensive to live in. Our highest-in-the-nation property taxes fund a bloated state government with more than 82,000 workers and a completely illogical, inefficient network of 566 municipal governments and 616 school districts.This has to change. Residents who don’t want to be forced out of their homes and out of this state must call or write to their state legislators and demand in no uncertain terms that they do something about our taxes. State legislators have given themselves until the end of the year to approve legislation that would fix our broken property-tax system.
State residents must not let them weasel out of their duty and propose only token cuts and tweaks designed mostly to preserve government jobs and inefficiency. Don’t let lawmakers in Trenton think that if they simply slow the annual property tax increases a bit that they’ve done their job. That’s not enough.
Living in this state has become a burden for many, and too much to bear for those who’ve already left. The latest Census data just prove it.
“State lawmakers say they get it.”
From the proposals listed on the NJ Property Tax Reform site, it sounds like they get it. They have the facts. They know that NJ employs almost as many state workers as Pennsylvania, for example, against populations of 8.7 vs. 12.5. There’s a proposal there to cut the state workforce to 2000 levels, but there is no teeth in the proposal, just some vague language about, “if the panel determines the reduction cannot be made in four fiscal years, it shall provide a statement detailing the panel’s reasoning…” That’s such bullcr*p… being involved in private headcount reductions over the years, I say that statement has nothing in common with the statement, “lawmakers say they get it.”
They don’t get it.
They don’t get it.
They don’t get it.
They only thing that is going to make them get it is for every person who thinks NJ is too expensive to live in, to go to the polls and vote every single incumbent out. Unfortunately, the good are going to have to go with the bad.
NJ is way too expensive. You are paying California or Hawaii prices to live in Jersey!!!
Wake up people. I’m voting with my feet. Everyone I know who has left NJ is very happy wherever they moved to (mostly the south and southwest). They all say the same thing “I should have done this move years ago”.
In many parts of the US outside of bubbleland you can buy a beautiful new house for 250k. You can’t even find a 20 year old 2/2 townhouse in Central Jersey for that anymore. Not to mention the property tax and HOA. Yech. No wonder Tony Soprano is so stressed. He’s trying to cover his property tax and HOA fees.
I just flew in from an exploratory trip to Raleigh North Carolina. A can’t believe how different is there. It’s incredible what you can get for the money compared with up here. It’s not just home prices, but the taxes and everything else too.
It’s going to be a really tough decision for us. If we go, leaving family behind will be hard. On the other hand, I feel like living here will mean struggling to afford some crappy home while trying to stay one step ahead of the tax man.
Felt the same way when I was in San Antonio a few weeks back.
Good friend of ours moved out there after he got married. Within a few months his brother moved out there. A few months later one of his uncles planned to move, and now another. I’m sure his parents are going to follow as well.
Someone has to pave the way. 40 years ago my parents left friends and family to come to the states. The rest of the friends and family followed shortly thereafter.
Maybe it is time to cut a new trail.
jb
Amazing isn’t it, everybody has stories regarding families/friends who have fled and you hear the same story. What a great move, should have done it years earlier,etc… Does anybody out there have a story about someone that has moved into the state and has expressed that their quality of life has improved??? Whew!! The silence is deafening!!!
RentinginNJ: You hit the nail right on the head!! I’m in IT and thanks to outsourcing I’ve resorted to taking contract work all over the US. At first I was pissed but now that I got to see the world my eyes have been opened. I’ve lived in NJ for 30 years and its the only thing I’ve known and I’ve only been to touristy areas like orlando or hawaii.. .but living in the suburbs/cities doing contract work holy cow the world is beautiful! Houston TX you can get a nice 2 car garage home with a nice yard brand new for 250K!. Here in Plainsboro NJ the same money will get you a dingy old 1/2br condo in ravens crest! In texas the roads are so open and people are so friendly and warm and inviting! Here I cross the street and some jerk guido or foreigner is curing me off. I’ve been to Boise Idaho to work for albertsons and again!! the people are sooo nice and the homes are gorgeous… mind you that Idaho is a bit extreme as IT work is scarce there.. but still just meeting honest warm friendly people that say “gosh darnit” instead of “fyckin A!!” is so refreshing and the air so clean!@ I want to leave NJ so bad but my widowed mother has a comfy state job that covers her benefits and likewise she’s been here all her life and she can’t leave. When I was away for work it was torture as I was always worried for her… life is not fair!
BC Bob Says:
October 8th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
Amazing isn’t it, everybody has stories regarding families/friends who have fled and you hear the same story. What a great move, should have done it years earlier,etc… Does anybody out there have a story about someone that has moved into the state and has expressed that their quality of life has improved??? Whew!! The silence is deafening!!!
Yes – many examples, including me. However, most of these success stories are people with advanced degrees or else have made a mint in a field involving or supporting real estate.
If you are discussing people that are not upwardly mobile, or have pulled down a load of money in the last 5 years, yeah, get out before you are sucked down by the undertow.
Chi.
I understand. I should have been clearer, anybody outside of Wall Street, or involved in re.com the last 4 years. We know how re will play out. Wall St???
By the way, if you are a shrink, you probably have done very well. Such a vast market here!!!