From the Times Trenton:
CALLING TOWN CENTER HOME
BY LISA RICH
It’s been five years since the first homeowners moved into the award-winning Town Center — a development touted for smart growth and preservation of open space.
But amongst the miniature evergreens and white picket fences, not everything here has gone as planned: A promised roadway has remained a tract of grass; a pedes trian bridge has not been built; and the housing prices have risen so dramatically that taxes have become a burden — for some.
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Turning the idea into a reality, however, has required a lengthy process. Township officials began plans for the mixed-use development more than 20 years ago, but the project didn’t get off the ground until the late 1990s. When construction ends within the next five years, Town Center will have a mixture of 828 residential housing units and seven mixed-use buildings with both homes and retail stores.
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While volunteers have helped keep the development clean, the township can’t do much about the surprise demographics of who’s actually living in Town Center. Statis tically, the community was sup posed to generate fewer than one child per home. In fact, the average house in the development has about two children. The end result means more families are moving into the area while “empty nesters” are keeping out, Fried said.“For Town Center to have the age diversity that was envisioned, we have to get taxes under control,” Fried said. “More and more, we’re seeing for-sale signs on homes that don’t have any kids.”
Because the market value of the homes has almost doubled in the last five years and more children have entered the school district, homeowners in Town Center are paying more in school taxes now than ever before.
When the development first opened, the town houses started selling for about $180,000. The same homes now are selling for al most $400,000, said Tom Troy, senior vice president of Sharbell Development Corp. Single-family homes have sold for as much as $600,000, he said.
The average assessed value for homes in Town Center is about $500,000, Fried said, meaning those residents pay about $13,900 in school taxes each year. “Realistically, are you going to want to bite that tax?” Fried asked.
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In the past two years, Troy said he’s noticed a “fairly high” number of residents selling their homes. Of tentimes, those who sell either cash in on a higher profit because the home value has doubled or they can’t afford to pay the taxes, he said.
From the Philly Inquirer:
Three big questions for N.J. voters
The state’s contentious U.S. Senate campaign may be grabbing the attention this election season, but New Jersey voters also will consider three important ballot questions about additional funding for property-tax relief, roads and mass transit, and parks.
On Nov. 7, voters will be asked whether to amend the state constitution to use:
Half the money earned from this year’s sales-tax increase to ease the state’s property taxes, which are the highest in the nation.
More money from the state’s gasoline tax to pay for road, bridge and mass-transit improvements.
Money from corporate income taxes to improve and preserve parkland.
From the Courier News:
Property tax reform ideas due soon
With just a month left before their tax reform ideas are due, New Jersey lawmakers trying to cut the state’s highest-in-the-nation property taxes are cobbling together ideas that will likely be included in their final recommendations.
The four special committees debating property tax reform must submit ideas to the Legislature by Nov. 15.
“Each piece itself will not save that much, but I think the totality of it will,” said Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr., D-Camden.
New Jerseyans pay about $6,000 in annual property taxes, twice the national average.
Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, said property tax reform will be the top priority in the upcoming weeks, but minority Republicans are impatient.
“It seems a little hazy right now,” said Sen. Bill Gormley, R-Atlantic.
While nothing has been decided, the committee debating school funding has discussed increasing funding for suburban schools, though it hasn’t identified where it would find more money. It’s also discussed enhancing public access to school administrator salaries and perks and reforming expensive special education.
The panel considering public worker benefits has discussed new benefits for newly hired government workers, making it tougher to qualify for a public pension, barring late-career salary hikes that boost pensions and increasing the public retirement age from 55 to 60.
The committee debating the state constitution has mulled whether the state should allow local governments to impose taxes, restricting the state’s ability to incur debt and if the income tax should be increased to cut property taxes. It also debated if homes should be taxed differently than businesses.
Lawmakers debating whether local governments should consolidate favor forming an independent panel to recommend which municipalities should be merged. They also want to give some municipal duties to counties and ask voters whether to approve creating countywide school districts, though Roberts and Codey don’t endorse moving to countywide schools.
“The creation of 21 county school districts as a first step may be too radical,” said Roberts, D-Camden.
Our services will go down, while our taxes continue to increase
“The creation of 21 county school districts as a first step may be too radical,” said Roberts, D-Camden.
There is already a county superintendent’s office. Eliminating the six hundred other districts would eliminate 600 superintendents positions that at a minimum pay $100K and pay mostly in the nearly $200K not including the other perqs. 600 X $100,000 = $60,000,000 just for eliminating redundancy.
My brother in upstate NY told me that he voted for the first time against the school budget and what got his goat was the board’s defense of the budget. They said they had made “deep cuts.” What were the cuts? Elementary school German, one junior high sports team and one position where the job was to scout possible field trips.
I think education is a mess. We keep hearing how we’re supposed to spend more money but there is NO practical oversight. In there own finances, people who spend education money would not keep on spending on items that get such poor results. Foreign language is the very worst, IMO. American kids are not going to learn foreign languages because they do not need to learn them and we have now had about 50 years of experience with it. I started taking French when I was in 6th grade in 1958 and took it all through junior high and high school and the required 2 years in college and I have never had any use for it whatsoever.
Nowadays the schools push Spanish but you are not going to get a job that requires Spanish unless you are a native speaker because there are so many native speakers available. My daughter took it for 4 years and cannot understand anything they’re saying on a Spanish language TV show.
If I was running education, I’d put together a one semester course of phrases from all languages that would be good to know and thats it. Savoir faire, Schadenfreud, Gesundheit, hasta la vista, Gaudeamus igitur, etc. You’ll run across those foreign phrases in life and you’ll know what they mean and its worth something.
The other one is math. Insisting that all college bound kids take math they will never use – like trigonometry – is just a way to waste taxpayer money.
Andra – if you are ever in a position to influence school curriculum anywhere please let me know so I can be sure to keep my kids away from that district.
Andra said..
“The other one is math. Insisting that all college bound kids take math they will never use – like trigonometry – is just a way to waste taxpayer money.”
Did any body see “Peggy Sue Got Married” Kathleen Turners character says something similar.
What happened to the idea of basing property tax on your income not location. That seems to be a realistic idea. I mean come on not everyone makes 8 gillion dollars per year. Amd yes there are many Jerzians who do not commute into the city and cannot afford to pay 6000+ per year on taxes. I think its time the voters got more choices on what to vote on.
Guys, I’m sorry that you want to put nice retired people who’ve lived in the area all their adult lives out of their houses so that the schools can waste money on language teachers and useless math and bore and irritate the kids in the process.
I think its immoral and stupid.
“It is only the ignorant who despise education.” – Publilius Syrus
Andra, it is unfortunate that you view trigonometry as a waste of taxpayer money. This branch of mathematics deals with the relationships between the sides and the angles of triangles and the calculations based on them (trigonometric functions). These skills are vital even to young adults who pursue vocational education to become carpenters, electricians, contractors, etc. The day we discourage children from studying math or foreign languages for fear of boring or irritating them is a sad day indeed.
The problem with the approach many teachers take in today’s school systems is their use of drilling students in test-taking strategies and the emphasis on rote memorization. Less time is spent teaching children to read, write, and calculate. Less time is available to teach them to think critically, to ask questions and seek answers.
Now more than ever, our schools should make every effort to develop children’s abilities to take the initiative and to think critically. Only with these capabilities will we produce individuals who are capable of making decisions, of thinking, and of creating new products/ideas. The way to help our children be able to come up with solutions that are appropriate to the problems and conditions they face today and will face in the future is to teach them to think critically.
How do you feel about music education? Surely, not every student who takes music classes will become the next Beethoven, Bono or Sarah Brightman. However, did you know that the study of music helps kids understand advanced math concepts? Music education participants receive more academic honors and awards than non-music students. Did you know that high school music students score higher on SATs in both verbal and math than their peers? Did you know that music training helps under-achievers? Music involves ratios, fractions, proportions and thinking in space and time. Should we pull the plug on music education because it is unlikely students will become mega-stars topping the Billboard charts? Or, should we continue funding these programs because it helps children think and develop their minds?
I encourage you rethink your position on this issue. There is a wealth of material on the internet that explains more fully how critical thinking is essential for success in learning and success in life.
To paraphrase the eloquent modern philosopher, Chris Rock:
“I don’t give a f–k how dumb yo chillen are!”
Seriously, $10k/pupil/year should be enough for any school district. Hold budgets to that and put some free-market incentives into education (performance bonuses, PATCO the teacher’s unions, no more guaranteed tenure, gut the administrative overhead), maybe the state will have a chance.
Other states can do it…
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