Governor’s budget, increases, school aid, bolsters the economy and protects public pensions

By Scott Rumana

Governor Chris Christie has presented a Fiscal Year 2013 budget that will help push New Jersey toward prosperity -- no matter what the critics are saying.

The governor’s budget features  $11.7 Billion in total School Aid  -- an increase of $212.5 million. Much of that increase is going to suburban districts, such as those that comprise District 40 in Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Morris counties.  District 40 taxpayer will see a total of

$68 million in state school aid for the 2012-13 school year, an increase of 10.3 percent, or $6.3 million.  That increased school aid will bring property tax relief to many households in our area.

To see your school aid number for 2012/13 go to http://www.state.nj.us/education/stateaid/1213/

Additionally, the governor has proposed a  10 percent across the board income tax cut that after four years will pump $1.1 billion into the state economy, thereby creating more buying power and more  jobs. The cut in the income tax will also make New Jersey  more business friendly and increase  business investment here.

Why cut the income tax?  Because after years of a deadly combination of high  sales, property and income taxes, New Jersey has become one of the least business friendly states in the country. New Jersey must compete with other states for jobs. Neighboring Pennsylvania is viewed by the national Tax Foundation as having the 19^th most business friendly climate.  New Jersey is 50^th. By cutting income taxes, businesses that are here will stay here and increase their investment here; and hopefully, new businesses will come here.

Why do income tax cuts matter? Because the income tax hits especially hard on the owners of small and medium sized businesses that create most of the jobs in this state. As a measure of importance of the income tax consider that last year Illinois raised its state income tax and as a consequence fell from 16th place on the Tax Foundation’s business friendly index to 28^th in 2012.

The critics of the governor want us to overlook the fact that under the reign of former Democratic governors and Democratic dominated legislature, New Jersey’s property taxes skyrocketed. Many of the governor’s critics are the same people who voted to increase taxes 115 times.  These are the same people who year after year failed to provide proper funding for the state pensions system --- handing out so called “pension holidays.”

Yes , it is imperative that we lower property taxes – and the governor’s 2 percent cap on municipal spending has helped stabilize property taxes and his education aid plan for this year will help further.  But the governor cannot undo in two or three years the damage that was done to property tax payers over a decade of undisciplined spending.

The governor’s budget plan includes: the largest single payment into the state  pension system in history ( more than $1 billion)  thereby helping to ensure that pensions for retired state and municipal employees will be there as promised.