Property taxes: How N.J. citizens can take up the fight
The Citizen’s Campaign, a group focused on practical steps New Jersey residents can take to impact their local community launched its first round of 10 ready for adoption ways to give citizens a grass roots way to counter rising property taxes. Among them;
joining or forming a regional emergency dispatch service; eliminating benefits for part-time elected officials and professionals; sharing computer administration between the municipality and school board and the performance of energy audits for government buildings.
Also included is a Salary Sunshine Online model law by which municipalities would place on their website the top five salaries for each department, their overtime costs and all labor contracts A report released by the State Commission on Investigation in late November documented wasteful personnel practices that exist in many municipalities. Salary Sunshine Online will give citizens the information they need to examine the practices in their own hometowns and to fight for changes if they are needed.
Hoboken has already actually begun one with the energy audits announcing some substantial savings well into six figures when fully implemented. But there’s clearly much more that can be done. Here’s the video discussing in detail the approach and methods for implementing the improvement(s).
For more on how this is being accomplished in other municipalities in New Jersey, please check out the Citizen’s Campaign website. Other local websites may wish to highlight it too.
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