Corzine vows action on property tax relief Wednesday, May 03, 206 • By TERRENCE DOPP • The Express-Times TRENTON | Calling for time to navigate a looming and contentious budget battle, Gov. Jon Corzine on Tuesday said he plans to address New Jersey's highest-in-the-nation property taxes. The Legislature is facing a July 1 deadline to approve Corzine's proposed $30.9 billion budget. The plan holds flat state aid to most schools and communities, both sources of property tax aid. "It's my intention that we get to work on property tax reform. I think we need this basis," Corzine said, referring to what he called the "no gimmick" spending plan. To do so, Corzine said he would prefer a special session of the Legislature in which lawmakers could directly address the issue. He said he is willing to consider a wide range of options dealing with how government revenue is raised and spent, including a constitutional convention of citizens. But work on lowering real estate levies must compete with homeland security, ethics reform and promoting other interests such as public funding for stem cell research, according to Corzine. "We will make it an equal priority. It's one that doesn't draw the headlines, but it draws equal work," Corzine added during a conference of the Associated Press Managing Editors, a trade group of journalists. New Jersey has long been plagued by high local taxes, which are the primary means of funding both education and local government. Education spending alone accounts for more than one in three dollars in Corzine's spending proposal. The bill has soared in the past four years to an average of $5,867 as governors and the Legislature have held state aid steady. The figure represents a 30 percent climb since 2001. Along with flat aid, Corzine is looking to increase property tax rebates by just 10 percent to $385 for most homeowners. Assemblyman Michael Doherty, R-Warren/Hunterdon, said property tax reform will flounder due to the lack of funding for schools and communities in the Corzine budget. "It's pretty clear the property tax situation is not going to improve unless the way we fund schools is addressed," said Doherty, who added 60 percent of all school funding goes to 20 percent of all New Jersey pupils, those living in the poor Abbott districts. "Until that is addressed, you're never going to solve the problem," he said. "You can meet all day long and all year. It all depends on how you confront that issue." Terrence Dopp is Trenton correspondent for The Express-Times. He can be reached at 609-292-5154. © 2006 The Express-Times. Used with permission.