A Public Forum On New Jersey Property Tax

Home Rule - It's Time Too Tiddy-Up A Bit

Our Home Rule Needs a Fresh Assessment

Home Rule as a process, requires honest assessment and maintenance to ensure an efficient system for the people of New Jersey. Home Rule is our safeguard to ensure a local voice to have an impact in our democracy. Efficent Home Role will enable our views to met to the benefit of our residents.

Opportunities, known to our residents, PTA's, educators, administrators, School Districts, Municipalities, County Boards, and Legislators, exist to make our delivery of services less expensive. We owe it to ourselves, our childern and teachers, municipal employees, and government workers to make the systems of education and government world class across the State. We need not divide or accuse, but merely propose and debate the most cost effective measures to achieve these goals.

"Ours IS Too Reason Why!...Stand Not Idle, It's Time To Try!"

Other States provide some services at a higher levels of integration, and thereby save by economies of scale. Here will attempt to briefly outline the valuable role of local community workshops to examine the possible methods to reform and lower the costs of services in education and governmental systems.

PFoPT proposes to conduct polls amongst knowledgeable groups to assess the pillars of our Home Rule, and determine if any structural changes could lead to a more efficient and less costly system. These surveys are envisioned to be completed in settings where discussion amongst members could reason togeher and then reflect their views to be assembled and collated to determine if any concensus exists for Statewide action.

For example, a form of the following worksheets could be used to gather an assessment on our current public school

Of course these particular formats merely suggest the concept. Undoubtedly, experts in these particular endeavors and their representative associations could better target design the score card tools for this application.

Some might wonder if this process is feasible. Others might be concerned that implicit in this process, PFoPT is introducing modern tools in public policy formation. Polling teams, working with properly structured workshops should be able to gather the views of the over and 670 School Districts and 500 Municipalities for direct tabluation to help reveal the sentiment of the public on these issues.

Can we afford the effort to inquire? Groups, voting in a workshop, in their local community setting, and with public involvement if desired, could respond to a poll of this time statewide in a matter of an evening for a given entity, and within a month statewide. Can we afford not to make the assessment?

"Too Costly Elsewhere...Leads To Too Much Tax Everywhere!"

Let us know what you believe is the best course for New Jersey. We'd appreciate your suggestions for promoting public dialog on the issues at the heart of these matters. We hope the PFoPT web site has been helpful in evaluating these issues.