January 12, 2007

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine Appears Live on MCTV

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine answers questions from the public live
on MCTV on January 11.

The following article is coverage from the Trenton Times (1/12/07)

Corzine rolls out tax roadshow

WEST WINDSOR -- 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.

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."

Hopewell Valley Regional School District Superintendent Judy Ferguson asked Corzine what exclusions there will be from the property tax cap and whether exemptions will be made for lost state aid, fluctuating special education costs or spikes in enrollment.

Corzine told Ferguson that he had no intention of instituting a "hard cap" and said there will likely be several exclusions.

"A hard cap is not going to be put in place," he said. "I'm more fearful that it will be so holey that we will not get the result I am hop ing for. I'd like to keep the number of exclusions to a minimum, but on the other hand I know we can't have a hard cap."

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."

Questions reflected the diversity of Mercer County and ranged from concerns over the governor's recommendation for school consolidation to truck traffic on Route 27 and Route 206 in the Princetons, to Corzine's support for medical marijuana.

Sam Roth from Pennington asked Corzine how the tax package would affect senior citizens who already receive the maximum homestead rebate. Corzine told Roth that he hoped to help seniors by ensuring that every community in the state received state aid, something the governor said had not happened in four of the past five years.

West Windsor Mayor Shing Fu Hsueh, who moderated the event, said afterward he was proud the governor chose West Windsor and said he hoped the people see the job Corzine is doing.

"We are honored to have been selected for the town hall meeting two days after the State of the State," Hsueh said. "He took over probably the worst budget situation in New Jersey's history. He recognizes that we need money for everything we do and he is looking at long-term sustainable solutions. People don't always appreciate that in the short term."