S-1701 ‘indefensible’ and must be changed

My colleagues and I appreciate Dan Newman’s coverage of our trip to Trenton to deliver our 1,000 letters protesting S-1701. I think it is important for the public to understand the reason for this stealthily forced legislation. It was not intended to make any real inroads against property taxes but designed to give the appearance of property tax relief so then Gov. James McGreevey had an issue he could campaign on for re-election.

New Jersey has a real problem in high property taxes, but the solution is not to gut their schools as S-1701 will do, but to change the way we fund education. Only by moving from a regressive property tax to a preferable method can this be achieved. Unfortunately, tax tinkering has become the third rail in New Jersey politics, i.e. the “Florio effect.” As a result, many believe the problem will only be addressed by a constitutional convention which may or may not take place someday in the future.

You have received little support for S-1701, because it is really indefensible. Many schools like Middletown have already cut every possible way to become more efficient and still deliver a decent education to their students. We in Middletown have worked diligently for years to gain the public trust in restoring many programs and services that were cut by past budget defeats at the polls.

S-1701 will reverse that progress and refute public will to preserve and improve their local schools. Those who care about public education need to contact their legislators now — especially senators — to fix the mess they made in passing this ill-conceived legislation.

Marianne Kligman

Middletown