Somerville - Feb. 4 - Last night I had the opportunity to attend the Somerset kick off meeting for a grass-roots group called Empower the People. The group's mission is to provide methods to lower property taxes. Right now, according to the presenter, Bret Schundler, the state takes in more revenue than it needs to meet the budget. Then people in Trenton "find" new programs in order to spend this money.

What this legislation would do is give municipalities, counties and school boards the incentive to curb spending in order to get a portion of the "fair share" pie that is being suggested. Under this new legislation, the municipalities, counties and school boards could spend just ahead of the rate of inflation. The legislation would allow them to spend UP to 1.3 times the rate of inflation. If they kept spending down, they would get their "fair share" of the Trenton tax dollars left in the bank. Conversely, if the entity spent more than the 1.3% the rate of inflation, they would not be eligible for funds under this program.

It will take a tremendous amount of time and manpower to help this initiative get past the talking stage. Anyone interesting in helping (and there are many different ways that you can help) can simply contact the organization by going to their website.

Chip

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