From the Times Trenton:
Corzine rolls out tax roadshow
Just two days after outlining the state’s harsh fiscal realities during his State of the State address, Gov. Jon Corzine took his vision for property tax reform on the road.
Corzine appeared at a town hall meeting last night, speaking to a crowd of some 200 residents at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor. The governor por trayed a “man of the people” style, beginning the night by touting the state’s positives, including an education system he called second to none.
…
But as with the speech earlier in the week before the state Legislature, Corzine focused his message on the need for tax reform and a balanced budget, explaining to the audience that true reform would take sacrifice and likened the choices ahead to “taking our castor oil.”The audience was eager to talk about the governor’s plan for reform and Corzine fielded several questions about his plan to cap local tax increases at 4 percent and the effect of the cap on schools, municipalities and fire districts.
Corzine defended the cap, say ing 4 percent was not harsh and promising that there would be exemptions. But without a cap, the governor said, the rebates and reforms designed to provide relief for nearly all of the state’s residents would be eaten up by tax increases in the coming year.
“I do believe that history shows that if we don’t do something (to preserve) the credit and reforms, we will see everything we do eaten up,” Corzine said.
The governor told the crowd that everything he hopes to do in the state feeds off the property tax issue, calling taxes the “dam holding us back from addressing other issues.”
…
Several members of the audience were state employees or retirees from state jobs and many wanted to know how Corzine’s tax program would affect employee benefits. One resident asked how Corzine’s plan to “monetize,” or sell, the state’s assets such as the New Jersey Turnpike would affect pensions for former employees of the Turnpike Authority.“I think it’s absolutely wrong to go back and change post retirement benefits,” Corzine assured the crowd. “Anyone that believes we are going to balance the budget or fix the property tax problem on the shoulders of public employees is hallucinating.”
See, he really is showing his true colors.
He’s a people pleaser. Does not have the balls
to call it like it is. NJ is a welfare state
and the unions and the give a way programs
have taken NJ into third world status.
Anybody see the article on the cost of 45K
to ship the illegal back to his country?
What a wolrd.
pesche22
i have to say the pols are the ones screwing the people not the unions.
if pension $ were left alone we would have enough to pay for our commitments
pols borrowed against the fund and gambled on the tech bubble and now the re bubble. if they left the money alone it would be there
Red:
get in the real world. If the spending of
the unions continue at the present pace
the numbers will BK the state sooner rather
than later. And that will not stop the
welfare and all other give a way programs.
And who votes for these stupid pols?
In a democracy, you get the government you deserve. In a federal system, if you don’t like the government the rest of the state wants, you leave.
Anyone that believes we are going to balance the budget or fix the property tax problem on the shoulders of public employees is hallucinating.
No hallucinations here, Corzine will continue to support his unions on the back of the people of New Jersey. He has made it clear that his allegiance lies with the unions. Despite that fact that 70% of the State budget goes to public employees, nothing will get done.
RentingNJ,
You beat me to the punch. Exactly what I was thinking.
Hallucinating??? Public Employees/Unions??? He was kidding, I hope. No s*it gov. The only ones that are hallucinating are those that think real substantive reform will take place.
I think Corzine is blessing to NJ. O think he is as good of a leader NJ can get. I am his big fan.
“Anyone that believes we are going to balance the budget or fix the property tax problem on the shoulders of public employees is hallucinating.”
Basically this means no R.E. tax relief or higher state taxes. Thanks for nothing Mr. Corzine.
Ramesh Please tell me your not serious.
Ramesh,
LOL.
Ramesh,
Are you being sarcastic or do you work for the state?
Hes’s corzine butler