Uniformity Under Fire at Tax Hearings

Friday, September 8, 2006

By GREGORY J. VOLPE
Gannett State Bureau

TRENTON

Despite strong testimony against changing the state's uniformity clause, and none for it, lawmakers tasked with lowering property taxes continued lengthy hearings Thursday on the constitutional mandate that all property in a district be taxed equally.

Businesses have led the opposition fearing that removing this protection would lead to higher taxes and devastate an already poor business climate in New Jersey.

"This is not reform, this is shifting dollars," said Thomas A. Bracken, chairman of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. "Shifting dollars in this context would be the nail in the coffin for the New Jersey business community."

Tim Evans, a researcher with New Jersey Future, was the only one to testify that there may be a reason lawmakers should continue studying the issue.

"It would be inadvisable to take the uniformity clause off the table in case a solution were to come along," Evans said.

Assemblyman Richard Merkt, R-Mendham Township, one of two committee members who have publicly opposed changing the clause, said the committee should move on to other things, like reinforcing the public's right to approve new state borrowing.

"This was educational," Merkt said after the more than two-hour hearing. "But I'm not sure that this is a direction that really offers significant opportunity for property tax reform."

Committee co-chairman John J. Burzichelli, D-Paulsboro, said no one is advocating raising business taxes, but changing the uniformity clause may turn out to be part of the solution of solving the state's highest-in-the-nation property taxes.

"The property tax burden in New Jersey has reached the point of break for homeowners," Burzichelli said. "And the uniformity clause, at least in the constitution, is the base and foundation that our tax system is built on."

As businesses tried to ward off a potential threat, representatives for farmers, hospitals and colleges lobbied to keep the tax perks that their groups get through exemptions granted from the uniformity clause.

None suggested stripping those perks, but co-chairman Sen. Bernard Kenny, D-Hoboken, said there may be tax savings from finding examples of organizations getting exemptions for parcels not directly associated with a public purpose.

One example he cited is college faculty who live in college-owned housing.

"It's not a small issue," Kenny said.