Melvin A. Benarde of West Windsor
“Club’s tax case a symptom of need for reform,” The Packet’s most recent editorial (Tuesday, August 28) was right on the money, and should be required reading for all voters in Mercer County, and beyond.
The editorial’s final paragraph warrents iteration. “Last year,” the editorial informs us, “the Legislature made some bold promises about reforming New Jersey’s regressive property tax system. The Cottage Club case offers yet another vivid example of how little meaningful progress has been made toward this worthy goal.”
Recall that a major plank of then Senator Corzine’s campaign for governor was property tax reform, and recall also that State Senator Cody was charged by Gov. Corzine with developing a plan for statewide property tax reform. Over the past year Senator Cody has indicated several times that his committee would have a plan in place, and presented to the public by November.
The first week in November is election time when every legislator is up for election or re-election, including Senator Cody. We need to see his plan before, not after the elections, and we must ask each candidate whether they will support property tax reform this year. They must be held accountable. The issue of property tax reform is too important to be allowed to die on the vine.
The people we send to Trenton must understand that they go with a popular mandate to change the fossilized over reliance on property tax to finance local governments. Doing so, will help bring New Jersey into the 21st century.

