Reply #10: The problem with NJ property taxes [View All]

[LiberalEsto]

I grew up in NJ, graduated from Rutgers, and worked as a newspaper reporter for several NJ newspapers, including the Star-Ledger. I covered town council and school board meetings all over central NJ, so I'm familiar with the way local governments work there.

Twenty years ago we moved to Montgomery County, Maryland, largely because there was no way we could afford a nice house in a good school district in New Jersey. Here in Montgomery County, we have a fairly decent small house in a nice neighborhood in one of the finest school systems in the U.S., and our property taxes are still only about $2600. In NJ I think our taxes for a comparable school district would be $7500 or more.

The property tax problem in NJ exists because of "home rule," a form of government which leaves almost all public services, including education, to the control of local governments. Hence, NJ had about 560 school districts the last time I checked, while Maryland has 22, consisting of 21 counties and the city of Baltimore. In NJ, tiny school districts each have their own bus systems, cafeteria systems, school administrators, etc. In Maryland, these services are run by the county school districts, which eliminates a lot of unnecessary duplication and waste. We also have county-run health and human services, trash and recycling services, county library systems, and county police, although some cities like Rockville have local police as well. The buying power of a large county school system is much greater than that of a small local school district.

The only flaw I see with the Maryland system is that the county school hierarchy is rather large, and not as easily approachable as the administration in the local district where my older daughter attended elementary school in NJ. But I am willing to give that up in favor of a county where kids have opportunities to attend magnet schools that specialize in foreign languages, the arts, computer science, environmental studies, or math and science. We have French and Chinese immersion programs in a couple of elementary schools, and International Baccalaureate programs in several high schools, just to name a few special areas. Cities like Rockville and Gaithersburg aren't affected much by "white flight", because their schools are generally as good as schools elsewhere in Montgomery County. The other flaw is that Baltimore has its own system separate from surrounding Baltimore County, one reason Baltimore schools are such a mess.

NJ clings to home rule, in my opinion, because of racism and classism. (Why is also why Baltimore City and County schools are separate.) People who can afford to buy houses in a good school district with high property taxes don't want their kids attending school with kids from poor urban communities, where there are far fewer resources for the schools. This is why there are failing city schools in places like Paterson, Elizabeth, Newark and Camden, while just a few miles away there are good suburban schools. The middle class won't buy homes in those cities.

I believe if NJ were to overhaul its systems of county and local government, and consolidate school systems, it would result in lower property taxes and provide a more equal education for all its children.But it will never happen.