Hightstown passed a resolution supporting a state constitutional convention on property taxes.
By: Scott Morgan
HIGHTSTOWN The fight to reform property taxes has garnered a set of allies in the Borough Council.
At the May 5 meeting, the council unanimously backed a resolution supporting a property tax reform convention that would alter the state Constitution to end the reliance on property taxes to pay for school districts.
In recent years, a significant movement to amend the way schools are funded through property taxes has gained much public support. Last year, state Sen. Bill Schluter, R-Hunterdon County, a major proponent of the convention, met with borough and township residents at the East Windsor Municipal Building.
Word of the borough’s support for the convention last week garnered kudos from residents Tory Watkins and Walter Sikorski, who repeatedly have urged the council to get behind the idea.
This year, Mayor Bob Patten said, could be the year public support spills into government action. Getting to this point, though, requires the support of local governments, Mayor Patten said. Particularly, he said, for towns, such as Hightstown, where the school equation is a heavy load to bear.
"We have to let legislators know … Hightstown has been affected negatively by the way schools are funded," Mayor Patten said in an interview this week. "The burden is pretty high for us."
School taxes, totaling $2.70 per $100 of assessed property for borough residents in 2002, comprise about half of the borough’s overall tax rate of $4.46. The system is unfair not just to borough residents Mayor Patten said, because "it’s not only property owners who send their kids to school."
The resolution supports a pair of bills, one each from the state Senate and General Assembly, that urge property tax reform. The Senate bill focuses on a yes/no referendum question asking voters if they would support a property tax reform convention. If the question is on this November’s general election ballot and the majority of voters say yes, a special election will be set in motion for March 2004. In that election, residents would vote for citizen delegates two from each of the state’s 40 legislative districts who would decide how to proceed with the convention and ways to reform the property tax system. After that, the delegates would present their solution as a public proposal to voters in November 2004.
In 1947, the state held its last constitutional convention to expand the number of representative seats in the state Senate.
Though he is on board with the convention, Mayor Patten said he favors tax relief measures within the legislative houses.
"I would prefer it to stay in the two houses, rather than (having it) go to the public," the mayor said. He explained his concern that a public-oriented process could get out of hand, as have some efforts at referendum in California in which the movements died in a sea of public confusion.
But though he would rather the property tax issue go through a more traditional governmental process, Mayor Patten said the public can’t wait forever to fix their tax woes. "If (legislators) are hedging on it," he said, "then the people are going to have to do it."
Therefore, Mayor Patten said he believes the referendum question probably will make its way to the fore by November.
"I’m optimistic that something will take place this year," he said. Especially, he said, since many General Assembly and Senate members will be up for re-election this year. "If they want the votes, they’re going to have to listen to the people."
Whichever way it is handled, Mayor Patten said, he just wants property taxes taken care of.
"You’ve got to do something," he said. "Nobody’s standing up saying we don’t want property tax relief."

