Dear Mayor:

Mayor Gary Passanante, of Somerdale, a member of the League of Municipalities Executive Board and co-chair of the League’s Property Tax Reform Committee, addressed the Joint Constitutional Reform and Citizens Convention Committee last evening in Collingswood. Mayor Passanante also serves as the Chairman of the Citizens Convention Coalition Executive Committee and served on the Governor’s 2004 Citizens Convention Task Force.

Mayor Passanante informed the Committee, “In our opinion, this special session of the Legislature will have been a success if it does nothing more than coalesce support in both Houses for action to advance a Citizens Convention.  Our taxpayers need to know that if the State Legislature fails to enact real property tax reform, then they themselves can take the next crack.”

Mayor Passanante also noted the failure of past Legislatures to honor statutory commitments to annually adjust property tax relief funding to account for inflation.

“According to State sources, in FY 2001, the State provided municipalities with about $1.604 billion in general property tax relief funding. In the State’s last Fiscal Year (2006), the figure was around $1.693 billion. Though we appreciate the State’s struggle to provide a little more than a 5% increase in tough budgetary times; at about half the rate of inflation (11%), that’s hardly enough to help us to stem the rising tide of property taxes.”

Mayor Passanante asked the Committee to, “Give the voters the opportunity to: constitutionalize the promise to annually adjust property tax relief funding to account for inflation, as required by State statute, and to account for increased population; constitutionally expand and increase payments in lieu of taxes to more adequately reimburse local governments for money lost due to state mandated property tax exemptions; constitutionally expand the types of unfunded mandates that can be nullified by the Council on Local Mandates; and, if they judge it necessary, authorize a special convention for property tax reform, and allow the convention to propose statutory, as well as Constitutional changes.”

A complete copy of Mayor Passanante’s testimony on the League’s website under Special Property Tax Session.

If you have any questions, contact Jon Moran at (609) 695-3481 ext. 21.