Will elected leaders ever get it?

Municipal and state legislators continue in their failure to address the number one scourge of N.J. taxpayers: Property Taxes.

One wonders whether they are actually without a clue as to the only true solution or if they really are uninterested in bringing fairness to how we fund our schools, county and local government. Maybe they fear advocating change will hurt their political careers. Maybe they like the present unjustifiable system.

In the latest example, Howell Twp. residents turned out in droves to a town hall meeting to protest huge tax increases. They cited how severely $1,000 and $1,500 property tax increases along with rises in the cost of living in utilities and other areas are affecting low and fixed income taxpayers. They cannot afford it.

In response, the politicians never even consider the fundamental problem, which is the inherently unfair nature of the property tax. Instead, they point to corruption, the lack of and misdirected state aid. These are genuine problems. Abbott district funding and malfeasance by the same needs to be addressed. But fixing them will never remove the inequality of the present method, one that taxes with no regard to one's ability to pay.

New Jersey must stop driving people out of their homes and the state. People spend a lifetime building relationships with doctors, local services, friends, etc. In other words, they are a part of a community, contributing to and receiving from its life. But the property tax system is forcing greater and greater numbers of people to abandon all of this time and emotional investment. Families are split up as they have no choice but to pick up, terminate all these commitments and relationships, and leave. They are unwillingly forced to start all over. Often hundreds of miles away.

What is needed? We need a tax to fund education, county and local governments that is fair; one that does not penalize those on low and fixed incomes. The only one that meets that criteria is the income tax. It allows for changing income levels with instant, precise and automatic adjustment. No rebate program. No political squabbling over who should get a bigger piece of the state aid pie. It would be a thorough, sweeping and fair change. When are politicians going to get on board and really address this curse, the property tax?