To read the NJ Constitution Article VIII Section IV use the link below.
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Article VIII Section IV.

NJ Governor's Commissions Have Examined the Issues!

In 1988, New Jersey Governor Kean's 'State and Local Expenditure and Revenue Policy' (SLERP) Commission issued a report, and in 1998, Governor Whitman's Commission on Property Tax focused on New Jersey's need for property tax reform.

New Jersey Governor's 1998 Property Tax Commission

Contribution form Commission Reports to the Public Forum on New Jersey Property Tax
The Committee initially focused attention on the more recent 1998 Commission report and its plea for more public dialogue on the issues. Several community leaders have informed the Committee that the SLERP report provided a valuable assessment of issues that should be included in the Public Forum on Property Tax. Therefore, to provide a more complete picture of the issues and views of the past reports, a copy of the SLERP report was obtained from the NJ State Library and it has been scanned to this web site for your review and consideration.

The 1998 Commission on Property Tax provided 60 recommendations to lower cost of our local government structure implicit in our Home Rule approach and indicated that property tax reform was need with evaluations on tax restructuring largely based upon the Income and Sales taxes to offset the Property Tax. The 1998 Commission placed emphasis on overhaul of State Revenue processes and called for a freeze on special senior taxpayer "circuit breakers", rather it recommended State fund an independent statewide analysis of the benefits and equity of all existing age-based "circuit breakers." This study should also seek to examine potential new programs that could increase benefits for seniors and other segments of the population in an equitable way.

The 1988 SLERP Commission considered in detail numerous tax and spending issues and presented 111 recommendations to the Governor and legislature. The SLERP Commission placed emphasis on Creating The Balance and recommended the use of caps, and circuit breakers to ensure that urban regions and low income tax payers were given particular relief to restore equity in the total New Jersey tax system. (The New Jersey 'Property Tax Assessment Study Commssion' (PTASC), also known as "Glaser Commission", made 37 recommendations and these were included in the SLERP Report as Appendix D)

Both the 1988 and 1998 Commissions concluded that tax restructuring was needed, and considered providing using the Income and Sales Tax to offset the property tax. The SLERP Commission considered more types of tax revisions. Over twelve years have passed, and many of the proposals have already been enacted. The change in economy and demographics need to be considered when reviewing these reports. The reports offers insight into those issues considered and how the evaluations were developed for the recommendations.

The Commissions recommendations differed most strikingly on the issue of "Circuit Breakers" to alleviate tax burden on selective groups of taxpayers based upon on percent of income paid to taxes. The 1988 SLERP Commission clearly supports the concept of "Circuit Breakers", while the 1998 Commission favors a state funded study to improve the equity issues associated with "Circuit Breakers".

Those interested in the Public Forum on New Jersey Property Tax are encouraged to study both the 1988 and the 1998 Commission reports and other relevant material. Forum participants will find a wealth of views and opinions on the merits of alternatives; and will get a sense of the urgency to find a an equitable solution to the current New Jersey Property Taxs system.

A Overview of Commissions Findings:
The process is recognized to be complex and real progress will likely be precluded until the major segments of local control of budgets and spending is released to a consolidate services, lower costs, at higher levels of government or State level.

It is of primary importance to strive for efficiency to lower cost of services.

Cooperation between community activities to seek these efficienies is paramount.

Re-evaluation of the benefits and cost of full home rule is needed.

Alternative to fund the cost of services, via Sales, Income, and Property Tax.

Evaluation of proposals to ensure the the impact provides an equitable result.

Public forums are needed to discuss the alternatives.

New Jersey Governor's 1998 Property Tax Commission

Report Highlights and the Link to the 1998 Property Tax Commission Report.

New Jersey Governor's 1988 SLERP Commission

Report Highlights and the Link to the 1988 SLERP Commission full Report.

In 1999, New Jersey had 17 forms of Taxes. The 1988 SLERP discussed more of the tax types, while both reports focused on the main taxes. The table below provides an indication of this comparative treatment in the two reports.