Big Bucks for Ballot Box Bureaucratese
Posted November 2, 2007

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines bureaucratese as “a style of language held to be characteristic of bureaucrats and marked by abstractions, jargon, euphemisms, and circumlocutions.”  And to find examples of this linguistic mumbo-jumbo, look no further than your November 6, 2007 ballot. 

When you enter the voting booth this Tuesday, not only will you face choices for State Senate, General Assembly, and county and local offices, but you will also face the wordiness of four state ballot questions.  And while the first three may claim different purposes, each translates into the same thing: big bucks from New Jersey taxpayers.

Ballot Question 1 asks New Jersey voters to approve committing an additional half-cent of sales tax revenue to property tax “relief.”  Last year, voters approved a similar measure, and approval of this year’s question would bring to one cent the amount of sales tax “dedicated” to property tax relief.  Not only does this measure do nothing to address the core need for substantial property tax reform, but it also funnels taxpayer money through bureaucratic hands for redistribution at the directive of the state legislature.

As if this were not fiscally disastrous enough, Ballot Questions 2 and 3 request voter approval to borrow an astronomical $650 million to fund stem cell research and open space preservation. 

Consider this: New Jersey already carries a debt load of $33.7 billion – that’s billion.  Currently, the state spends 10% of its budget – which calculates into $3 billion – to pay off this debt.  Yet, in the midst of this fiscal crisis, our legislators want voters to approve borrowing $650 million for additional state spending, i.e. additional state debt!

Governor Corzine recently directed his Cabinet members to find ways to cut as much as $3 billion from next year’s budget.  Calling the state’s current budget “the eye of a fiscal hurricane,” Acting State Treasurer Michellene Davis said that officials “are redoubling  … [their] efforts to review the functions of state governments….”  Davis noted that because of the fiscal crisis, spending cuts are necessary. 

Where, then, is the breakdown?  Even as legislators and officials admit with one breathe to a financial fiasco and the need for restraint, with the next they want to put the state deeper in debt.  And make no mistake about it, when the creditors come calling on the state for payment, the state will come calling on New Jersey taxpayers to foot the bill.

When you exercise your constitutional right and cast your vote this Tuesday, remember that government can only give to the people what it first takes from the people, and every dollar spent on these initiatives will be a dollar that came straight from your pocket. 

We urge you to vote NO on Ballot Questions 1, 2, and 3.

For Reference

As worded, ballot the questions read as follows:

State Question No. 1 - Do you approve the amendment of Article VIII, Section I of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey, to provide for the annual dedication and annual appropriation of an amount equal to the annual revenue derived from a tax rate of 1% imposed under the New Jersey Sales and Use Tax, exclusively for the purpose of property tax reform, through a special Property Tax Reform Account established in the constitutionally dedicated Property Tax Relief Fund?

State Question No. 2 - Shall the “New Jersey Stem Cell Research Bond Act,” which authorizes the State to issue bonds in the amount of $450 million for grants to fund “stem cell research projects,” as defined in the act, at institutions of higher education and other entities in the State conducting scientific and medical research, and providing the ways and means to pay the interest on the debt and also to pay and discharge the principal thereof, provided that recurring revenues in the State are certified by the State Treasurer to be available in the amount equal to the sum necessary to satisfy the annual debt service obligations related to such bonds, be approved?

State Question No. 3 - Shall the “Green Acres, Farmland, Blue Acres, and Historic Preservation Bond Act of 2007,” which authorizes the State to issue bonds in the amount of $200 million to provide moneys for (1) the acquisition and development of lands for recreation and conservation purposes, (2) the preservation of farmland for agricultural or horticultural use and production, (3) the acquisition, for recreation and conservation purposes, of properties in the floodways of the Delaware River, Passaic River, and Raritan River, and their tributaries, that are prone to or have incurred flood or storm damage, and (4) funding historic preservation projects; and providing the ways and means to pay the interest on the debt and also to pay and discharge the principal thereof, be approved?

 

 

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