Public Opinion on Property Tax Proposals

Over the past year, the Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll  has taken a keen interest in tracking public opinion on property taxes – unquestionably the number one issue in the Garden State today.  The special legislative committees are just three weeks away from making their final recommendations for property tax reform.  The current poll examines public support for some key proposals now under consideration.

In general, the New Jersey public is wary about any plan to reduce property tax relief that shifts the burden to other taxes or merges local authorities.  When asked to choose between these general types of proposals 33% prefer consolidation and only 14% prefer a shift in the tax burden to income taxes.  Another 3% would do both, but 39% are not happy with either option.  However, support for these approaches does increase when the question moves from general ideas to specific proposals.

A major tax shift proposal being discussed in Trenton is the SMART (Save Money and Reform Taxes) bill.  Supporters of this legislation say it would issue the equivalent of a 50% property tax credit to every homeowner and renter by raising the income tax slightly on residents earning over $50,000 a year.  Public opinion on this plan is split – 47% feel that the SMART concept is a good idea, while 40% say it is a bad idea and 14% have no opinion.  An important caveat for support of the SMART bill is that it does not address spending issues.  Fully 3-in-4 New Jerseyans (76%) say that the SMART concept can lead to long-term savings only if it is accompanied by measures to keep spending under control.

“This poll along with our previous polling indicate that after being hit with a sales tax increase in the last state budget, voters are wary of any further increases, even if it would significantly cut their property taxes,” remarked Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.  “While we did not ask about the recent proposal to allow towns to add a penny to the sales tax, prior polls indicate that 6-in-10 residents would most likely be opposed to any such increase regardless of the taxing authority.”

Proposals that would consolidate either school districts or municipalities receive majority support from the New Jersey public as long as the property tax savings are significant.  Fully 7-in-10 residents would support merging their town with up to three neighboring towns (72%) or merging their school district into a single county-wide district (69%) if it cut their property taxes in half.  A majority would still support such mergers if the resulting property tax savings were only 25% – fully 60% for town mergers and 55% for school mergers.  However, fewer than 4-in-10 – 38% for towns and 36% for schools – would support mergers that led to just a 10% property tax cut.  Levels of support for these consolidation plans are consistent across both party identification and community type.

The survey also found that public support for local mergers may decrease if the resulting savings take a long time to be realized.  Among those who favor consolidation, about half (49%) would maintain their support even if it took at least five years before they saw any significant tax savings.  A similar 44% say they would oppose consolidation if they did not see savings in a short period of time.

“New Jersey voters, whether Democrat, Republican or independent, feel that the best way to cut property taxes is to reduce the number of local authorities and the resulting administrative costs.  However, the burden of property taxes has become so intolerable that many feel they are past the point where they can wait for relief,” commented Murray.  “This is compounded by the fact that resident are split on whether we do in fact have too many local authorities, especially school districts.”

While 31% of residents say that New Jersey has too many school districts for a state of its size, 34% feel we have the right number and another 18% say we have too few.  Those who say New Jersey has too few school districts tend to be renters living in the larger urban school districts.  However, among the key stakeholder group of homeowners, 37% say New Jersey has too many school districts.

Another key issue in the merger debate has been whether to mandate or encourage consolidation.  Residents are split on whether incentive programs to encourage town mergers would work.  While 39% say such incentives would be effective, 43% feel they would not be effective.  Political independents (47%) and those living in the state’s fastest growing municipalities (48%) are most likely to feel consolidation incentive programs would not work.

One plan to actually mandate municipal consolidation would put the decision-making process in the hands of an independent commission.  The proposed Municipal Reorganization and Consolidation (MARC) Commission would present a list of town mergers to the state legislature for a straight up-or-down vote.  Public opinion is split on this idea as well – 45% support the MARC Commission bill and 41% are opposed.  However, if the commission’s list were put on the ballot for a public vote rather than a legislative vote, support increases to 69%.

Another proposal to reduce costs and thus cut property taxes currently making the rounds in Trenton would leverage the value of state-owned assets.  This idea could include plans for leasing the operation of New Jersey’s toll roads and selling the naming rights to state properties like parks and train stations.  If it were up to the New Jersey public, this idea would be a non-starter.  Only 32% feel it is a good idea compared to a majority of 55% who say it is a bad idea.

Finally, the poll asked residents about their views on holding a constitutional convention if the current legislative process does not produce significant reforms.  Fully 2-in-3 voters (66%) support putting this issue in the hands of a special convention if the legislature does not come through.  Only 23% would oppose holding such a convention.

Moreover, if a constitutional convention is convened, most residents (51%) feel it needs to be empowered to deal with both the taxing and spending sides of the issue.  Only 13% feel it should be limited to just tax relief as a way to make sure agreements can be reached by convention delegates.  Another 30% say it makes no difference if one or both components of the fiscal equation are dealt with.

Murray noted, “In the end, New Jerseyans don’t want to see spending cuts that would reduce the amount of money that goes directly into classrooms or that serves basic community needs.  Residents do say they want more efficiency and greater accountability in how their property tax dollars are spent.  And they appear willing to give up some local control in order to achieve this.  The devil, of course, is in the details.”

The latest Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll was conducted by telephone with 800 New Jersey adults from October 16-19, 2006.  This sample has a margin of error of ± 3.5 percent.  The poll was conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute and originally published by the Gannett New Jersey newspaper group (Asbury Park Press, Courier-Post, Courier News, Daily Journal, Daily Record, Home News Tribune, and Ocean County Observer).

DATA TABLES

The questions referred to in this release are as follows:

(* Some columns may not add to 100% due to rounding.)

Results for this Monmouth University/Gannett NJ Poll are based on telephone interviews conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute on October 16-19, 2006 with a statewide random sample of 800 adult residents.  For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling has a maximum margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.  Sampling error increases as the sample size decreases, so statements based on various population subgroups, such as separate figures reported by gender or party identification, are subject to more error than are statements based on the total sample.  In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.

It is the Monmouth University Polling Institute’s policy to conduct surveys of all adult New Jersey residents, including voters and non-voters, on issues which affect the state.  Specific voter surveys are conducted when appropriate during election cycles.

Click on pdf file link below for full methodology and results by key demographic groups.