Property tax reform

Whoa ho! AARP New Jersey writes in Grassroots Update (which I got in today's mail) that "New Jersey's property taxes are out of control." You have to know that a few years ago New Jersey drastically cut its income tax rates, especially in the upper brackets. That put a heavier burden on the local property tax. Now, as they wrote, many "older New Jerseyans" with low incomes and high-valued homes are being squeezed beyond their ability to pay.

AARP New Jersey wants to fix that by putting a limit on the property tax bill depending on ability to pay. making the property tax look more like an income tax. Next, somebody will want to make the income tax look more like a property tax. Or replace the income tax with a sales tax, but make the sales tax look more like an income tax, which is an idea I've seen floated.

The obvious fix is to reduce the property tax burden by raising the income tax rates that were lowered a few years ago. Is our political system so screwed up that it's politically impossible to do the obvious?