New Jersey Family Policy Council

Len Deo (973) 464-7622	11/2/2007

NJFPC Urges Voters to Reject High-Cost Ballot Questions

TRENTON – Today, the New Jersey Family Policy Council urged voters to reject State Ballot Questions 1, 2, and 3. “When voters enter the voting booth on Tuesday to exercise their constitutional right, they will be faced with not one but three separate questions that are little more than thinly-veiled attempts to hike taxes and increase state spending,” said NJFPC President Len Deo. Ballot Question 1 asks voters to approve committing an additional half-cent of sales tax revenue to property tax “reform.” 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. “To call this initiative ‘reform’ is not only misleading it is flat out wrong,” Deo said. “First the governor raises the sales tax by one cent, and now the legislature wants to redistribute that one cent and call it ‘reform.’ Russian roulette and reform are two different things, and true reform will come only when state spending is cut and property taxes go down across the board.” Ballot Question 2 asks voters to authorize the state to incur $450 million in debt to fund stem cell research, and Ballot Question 3 requests voter approval to borrow $200 million to fund open space preservation, historic preservation, and recreation improvements. While New Jersey officials claim none of the ballot questions will increase taxes, questions 2 and 3 contain hidden provisions for future tax increase to fund the bonds if the legislature is unable to do so. “According to the non-partisan Tax Foundation, New Jersey already has the highest property taxes and the third highest overall tax burden in the nation,” Deo noted. “In fact, our state debt is an astronomical $33.7 billion, and we are spending 10% of our state budget – that’s $3 billion – just to pay it down.” As a supporter of the NJFPC said “Some may disagree with our stance on the moral issues. However here is our point to NJ Voters; “If you don’t share our values, at least share our math.” “With figures like these, it is unconscionable that our legislators would even consider incurring $650 million in additional debt while putting tax hikes on the table to pay it off,” he concluded. The NJFPC strongly urges New Jersey voters to vote NO on Ballot Questions 1, 2, and 3.
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