Proposal lacks pay-to-play protections
By: Harry S. Pozycki
The property tax relief proposal put forward by the Legislative leadership has many worthy elements. But as Gov. Jon Corzine has recently suggested, it is unclear whether it is sufficient to hold the line on property tax increases for the long-term.
One major missing component is protections against the practice of pay-to-play at the county and local level. When campaign contributions and political connections not merit and cost-effectiveness drive the government contracting process as is too often the case today, taxpayers pay more for lower quality services.
First, a process that eliminates real competition by rewarding a select few large political contributors, results in local and county governments paying more for professionals such as attorneys, engineers and accountants. For example, an analysis of legal fees charged shows dramatically increased costs as a result of pay-to-play.
Second, government contracts become even more expensive because government contractors charge more to recoup the campaign contributions they have made. After all, these contractors are business people aiming to make a profit and the cost of the political contribution is simply another business expense.
Third, at the county and local level, the pay-to-play practice provides incentives for politicians to issue more government contracts and engage in wasteful spending because it is a way for them to increase campaign funding. This practice is most evident in the expansion of county and local "independent" authorities, which often do their own bonding and hire their own professionals.
The high profile examples of the cost of pay-to-play are now legion. These include the $100 million cost-overruns by Parsons Technology Group in the state’s auto emissions program, the bankrupting of the School Construction Corporation, and millions of dollars wasted at UMDNJ. In a less visible way, pay-to-play is costing county and local governments throughout New Jersey hundreds of millions of dollars in higher fees for professionals and in unnecessary government contracts costs that are passed on to New Jersey’s property taxpayers.
And with the prospect of relatively clean school board elections being moved to November where they will be mixed in with the pay-to-play fundraising of the other November elections, it is all the more critical to put pay-to-play protections in place especially for school boards.
A long-term property tax solution needs to include strong pay-to-play protections at the county and local level. Protections recently put in place at the state level are already having a positive impact and need to be expanded to other levels of government. If we sever the connection between the awarding of county and local government contracts and political contributions, New Jersey’s taxpayers will be provided sustained benefits in terms of reduced costs and higher quality.
Gov. Corzine and the legislative leaders must move to adopt comprehensive pay-to-play reform as part of the property tax reform package.
Harry S. Pozycki is chairman of the Citizens’ Campaign (www.jointhecampaign.com), a clean government and campaign finance reform organization based in Metuchen. The organization can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].

