Board of Ed. to blame for Middletown's high taxes
As a local resident who is fed up with soaring property taxes, I decided to investigate the system that has made New Jersey infamous across the nation. In Middletown, our property tax bill is actually three bills in one, with the school budget accounting for a whopping 64 percent, and the remainder split between the municipal (Middletown) and county (Monmouth) budgets at 18 percent each. This means that for a household paying $5,000 per year in property taxes, $900 goes to Middletown to fund the police, parks system, library, public works, senior center, infrastructure maintenance, building department, planning department and the rest of the various departments and services in town.

Moreover, an article in a daily newspaper reported that Middletown has had the lowest tax increase of any town its size for the last ten years and is a model of fiscal responsibility. With such sound management at the municipal level, then why are property taxes so high? Part of the blame must go to the Board of Education, whose tax increases are in or near double digits year after year. Perhaps Democratic Assembly candidate and Board of Education member Pat Walsh would like to explain that, and also why she paid two superintendents six-figure salaries for over two years - a situation that is undoubtedly only the tip of the iceberg.

However, the real culprit in property tax excess appears to be Gov. Corzine. State unfunded mandates and state mandated pension increases among other burdens are forced upon municipalities, who have no choice but to pass the costs onto the local taxpayers or face massive litigation. So unless the board of education shows more spending restraint, and the state makes a concerted effort to cut spending and remove the yoke of its unfunded mandates and unwieldy pension system, then all of the good faith efforts to rein in property taxes undertaken by municipalities such as Middletown will be for naught.

Michael Vitkansas

Middletown