November 8, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Noting that Assembly committees are considering nearly 40 pieces of legislation today, none of which deals with Governor Christie’s property tax reform Tool Kit that will provide sustained relief to taxpayers, Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce and Conference Leader Jon Bramnick said it is disgraceful that Democrat leaders continue to waste valuable time by failing to consider the key parts of the Tool Kit package.
The two Assembly Republican leaders were joined at a press conference today by seven Assembly Republican caucus members to express their outrage at the lack of movement on property tax reform legislation needed to support the new 2.0 Cap law that takes effect in January. Joining DeCroce and Bramnick were Assembly Republican Whip Dave Rible; Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini, Dawn Marie Addiego and Caroline Casagrande; and Assemblymen Gary Chiusano, John DiMaio and Erik Peterson.
“Democrat leaders keep telling the public they have been working on Tool Kit legislation, but taxpayers have seen little evidence of that to date,” said DeCroce, R-Morris and Passaic. “The majority party’s agenda hardly reflects the harsh realities confronting our state. Taxpayers should be livid that the Democrats still refuse to do the work we were all sent to Trenton to accomplish. Instead of showing leadership during difficult times, they are demonstrating disdain for the people we represent. They must be tone deaf to the election results delivered on Tuesday. Property taxpayers are tired of listening to empty promises made by Democrats.”
DeCroce said late last month, 20 bipartisan mayors came to the statehouse where they met with the entire Assembly Republican caucus and implored the Legislature to enact critical reforms, such as a hard cap on arbitration awards, which will help them control spending. He noted that Assembly Democrats refused the mayors’ request to meet with the group.
“If we do not enact real property tax reform by Jan. 1, the cap won’t work, property taxes will continue to rise and Democrat legislators will be responsible,” stated DeCroce. “The stumbling block for the Democrats in developing meaningful legislation is that they have no experience at cutting taxes or reducing spending. “At this point, I seriously doubt they want to change the system. Their goal is to maintain the status quo.”
Bramnick said Assembly Republicans have waited since the summer to work on the key components in the Tool Kit.
“Not one property tax reform bill mayors and other local officials will need to keep their budgets within the new 2.0 cap law that takes effect in 53 days has been posted for a hearing and vote today,” said Bramnick, R-Union, Essex, Morris and Somerset. “The clock is ticking. Without these necessary reforms, local officials will be forced to significantly cut services and personnel.”
“Instead of getting to work on real property tax reform that will allow our bipartisan property tax cap to succeed, Assembly Democrats plan to hold hearings on medical marijuana, the process of the BPU and hinder our economic revival by instituting another Democrat tax on the kinds of development we need to rebuild New Jersey,” said Rible. “If property taxes rise next year, despite commitments from Governor Christie and Republican legislators to fix the system, all fingers will be pointed squarely at the Democrats who control the legislative
