Dems, GOP wrangle as tax rate skyrockets

No matter which political party you believe is responsible for this year's very bad budget news in Jackson, one thing cannot be overlooked: property owners are getting socked with an increase in municipal taxes the size of which is rarely, if ever, seen in this region.

Generally speaking, municipal budgets that are approved in most of the communities covered by Greater Media Newspapers in Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties tend to produce an annual increase in the municipal tax rate of between 1 and 5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. On a house assessed at $200,000, a 5-cent increase would result in an additional $100 being paid in municipal taxes that year.

That trend was shattered in Jackson last week when the Township Council adopted a 2006 budget of $37.9 million that will raise the municipal tax rate by 19.6 cents, from 59.9 to 79.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

In order to help pay for everything Jackson needs to operate this year, the township will collect $22.4 million in local taxes, an increase of $6.5 million from the $15.9 million that was collected in local taxes in 2005.

The bottom line is a stinging reality for the personal finances of property owners who will feel the bite of the budget. The owner of a home assessed at $200,000 will see his municipal tax bill rise from $1,198 to $1,590 (up $392). The owner of a home assessed at $400,000 will see his municipal tax bill rise from $2,396 to $3,180 (up $784).

Municipal taxes are one portion of the overall property tax bill, which also includes school and Ocean County taxes. Jackson school taxes will also be increasing this year.

There are at least two claims as to why the tax rate has jumped by such a huge amount.

The Republicans who now control the mayor's office and Town-ship Council in Jackson's non-partisan government blame the Democratic majority which controlled the former government (a township committee) for using one-shot revenues and budgetary sleight of hand to prop up the spending plan.

The municipal budget showed minimal increases in the tax rate over the past five years, and in some cases the tax rate dropped from one year to the next.

Mayor Mark Seda and council members maintain the extraordinary pain of a 19.6-cent increase in the tax rate is needed this year to make up for the Democrats' alleged budget chicanery.

The Democrats - who are now on the outside looking in and have absolutely no say in how Jackson is run - are claiming that Seda and the council are soaking the taxpayers this year and will wind up collecting more money than is needed to run the town.

The Democrats claim the extra cash will be placed in a surplus fund and used by the Repub-licans in 2008 in order to lower taxes in an election year.

Doing that, the Democrats believe, would be the Republi-cans' attempt to make residents forget about the pain inflicted in 2006 and would cause voters to rush right out to re-elect the people who deliver tax relief in 2008.

Which side is right? Probably both in some ways.

Based on information provided by the council, the previous committee appears to have used some revenue sources which are no longer available. Instead of raising the tax rate by a small, but manageable amount each year and banking some of the one-shot revenues Jackson was receiving, the previous government appears to have artificially surpressed the tax rate. It was a "hold the line today, grab some votes and pay the bill later" type of budgeting.

And while residents may have appreciated a stable municipal tax bill, their appreciation did not translate into a victory for the Democrats in May.

The Republicans do not get off free here, however. As people see what's happening in Jackson today, hundreds of homes are coming on line. Aren't those new homeowners paying taxes? Isn't that a new source of revenue for the current government that was not available to the previous government?

Where is all that money going?

Last year Jackson residents voted to change the town's form of government. This year they saw the result - an unprecedented municipal tax increase. Will Jackson taxpayers remember this day in the May 2008 election? Or will the people now in power eventually figure out a way to cut taxes as significantly as they have raised them in order to remain in power? Stay tuned.