April 11
...serving up your daily dish.
New Jersey may soon move up in national rankings – but in a category that we don’t care to lead. From the Asbury Park Press:
New Jerseyans, already among the most taxed in the nation, could be moving closer to another undesirable ranking.
Gov. Corzine's plan to increase the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent would rocket the state toward the top of a national ranking that calculates how much each person, on average, pays in sales taxes.
Corzine's current budget proposal would put New Jersey behind only Vermont, Nevada, West Virginia, New Hampshire and Connecticut when it comes to most state sales tax collections per person, as measured by the Census Bureau. Currently, the state ranks 16th highest.
New Jersey already has the highest property taxes, 15th highest income taxes and fifth highest corporate taxes, based on Census Bureau per-person calculations.
Corzine’s proposal also lists some unlikely new targets for sales tax: golf and health club membership fees, landscaping, shipping and handling, self-storage, private investigators and downloaded music and videos.
Private investigators? Yeah, it’s right up there with golf club memberships. You have to wonder how much extra revenue that one will bring in…
April 11, 2006 in Current Affairs | Permalink
And, if the Bloomfield BOE budget and five million dollar second question both pass, that should push NJ right up to #1.
:-p
Posted by: g | Apr 11, 2006 9:38:10 AM
As I said before in another thread, thank you Gov. Corzine for making us #1. Glad to see you aren't wasting any time fulfilling your agenda, of which I was always aware. Knew you could do it!
The only thing that would make this even worse would be if I had actually voted for you.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 11, 2006 10:17:48 AM
Here, here Miss Martta. I second that emotion. . er. . statement.
Posted by: justeL | Apr 11, 2006 10:22:06 AM
Me thinks that who ever had been elected govenor would have limited choices about raising taxes in light of the state's budget crisis.
Would Barista posters prefer to close their eyes to the looming budget crisis and favor cuts in services which might put NJ on another list perhaps as the state with the lowest per-capita expenditures for education?
Posted by: Franklin | Apr 11, 2006 10:46:18 AM
Ha, ROC, you stole my thoughts!
Franklin: We already spend an exorbitant amount of $$$ on education, especially in the inner cities, and where has it gotten us?
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 11, 2006 10:53:09 AM
The education dollars in this state are misspent! Look at the crumbling schools in the suburban districts that have to cut programs and teachers and increase class sizes because exorbitant funds are channeled to the urban districts which are NOT utilizing $$ properly. If they were, things would be getting better there, no?!
Posted by: justeL | Apr 11, 2006 10:58:10 AM
Exactly. Johnny and Janie still can't read. This is not a problem that can be fixed by tax dollars but by parental involvment in their kids' educations.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 11, 2006 11:01:38 AM
It may be true that "we already spend an exorbitant amount of $$$ on education, especially in the inner cities, and where has it gotten us?"
What suggestions/recommendations do you have for education reform -- evidently NCLB is not working....so how do we finance and educate the next generation?
Posted by: Franklin | Apr 11, 2006 11:13:41 AM
Franklin: As I mentioned before, I don't think money is the answer. We have tried throwing $$$ at the problem and that has not worked. So, we need to examine this from another angle and ask why the kids are performing below par. Is it the teachers? Is it lack of parental involvement in their kids' education (as I have suggested above)? Do the kids not realize the importance of an education? Probably a little bit of "all of the above."
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 11, 2006 11:16:20 AM
i had my doubts about his $$ management style when it cost Corzine 450 G's to get laid
Posted by: j | Apr 11, 2006 11:17:12 AM
Hey, for that amount of dough, he could have thrown a big shindig at Leonard's on Long Island.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 11, 2006 11:19:25 AM
"Corzine's current budget proposal would put New Jersey behind only Vermont, Nevada, West Virginia, New Hampshire and Connecticut when it comes to most state sales tax collections per person..."
Someone tell the editors at the Asbury Park Press to check their facts. New Hampshire does not have a sales tax. If it wasn't colder than Murmansk, I'd consider moving back there, because there is no Income Tax, either. For more NH Tax information:
http://www.nh.gov/revenue/gti-rev.htm
Posted by: Conan the Grammarian | Apr 11, 2006 11:30:11 AM
NH is looking better to me every day. Libertarian enclave, no income/sales taxes, great landscape, low population density, lobster...what more could a girl want?
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 11, 2006 11:33:24 AM
some education food for thought:
EDUCATION -- '65% SOLUTION' IS NO SOLUTION AT ALL: USA Today reports that the "65% solution" -- a bid to force school systems to put 65% of their dollars directly into classrooms -- "has found favor in a number of states and is gaining momentum in others." While the article notes that education groups and teachers unions oppose the effort's simplistic micromanaging because it "disregards guidance counselors, librarians, nurses, bus drivers and others" who are not in classrooms, USA Today ignores the proposal's political motivations. The 65% solution is the brainchild of Overstock.com founder Patrick M. Byrne, and has been called "politically delicious" by conservative pundit George Will. While the group's website, First Class Education, says the campaign is a grassroots school funding initiative, an internal memo by the group shows that the solution is less about helping the nation's children and more about helping conservative politics. According to the memo, the campaign's goals include "splitting the education union" by pitting "administrators and teachers at odds with each other," providing conservative politicians "greater credibility on public-education issues," and by allowing "the use of unlimited non-personal money for political positioning advantages." American Progress has more on why the 65% solution won't work.
Posted by: Franklin | Apr 11, 2006 11:34:24 AM
FOR SALE
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The tiny town of Bridgeville is up for sale again on EBay, complete with its dozen houses, cafe and post office.
Two years after Bill Krall bought the entire northern California town for $700,000 on the Internet auction site, he's flipping it. Minimum bid this time: $1.75 million.
Krall, a Southern California financial adviser, said personal family commitments prevented him from ever moving to the town about 48 kilometres from the Pacific Ocean, according to his EBay listing. He said he "spent a lot of money and a lot of effort" cleaning up the 33 hectares among the redwoods northwest of San Francisco.
The town was once a hub for a local stagecoach route and a stop on the historical Pony Express mail service. A fire station and a school for elementary students are nearby.
Krall said he has received e-mails and phone calls from as far away as China and Germany inquiring about the sale.
"The world has a fascination with being able to buy a town," Krall said. "You can come in and name it after yourself if you want and be the mayor, chief of police and secretary of interior all at the same time."
The auction, which started Tuesday, ends May 4. As of midday Thursday, there had been no bids
Posted by: JT | Apr 11, 2006 11:34:46 AM
Semi Mea Culpa: just followed the link to the story. It was the AP who incorrectly reported that Nude Hampster had a State Sales Tax. The Asbury Park Press (the APP?) just passed it along.
Posted by: Conan the Grammarian | Apr 11, 2006 11:36:16 AM
"...what more could a girl want?"
Six-ply snow tires and eight-ply flannel nighties.
Posted by: Conan the Grammarian | Apr 11, 2006 11:38:07 AM
Conan, doesn't New Hampshire have a tax on investment income? Perhaps it's not the best place to retire if you will be living on investment income. Besides, my wife definitely wants to retire south of here.
Posted by: BeanCounter | Apr 11, 2006 11:40:31 AM
One of the great things about living in Cow Hampster is that you only have to learn a dozen or so surnames...
Posted by: Conan the Chowdahhead | Apr 11, 2006 11:40:41 AM
Bean Counter (great New England nickname, come to think of it :p)
NH has a bundle of other taxes, as evidenced on their web site, including 5% on dividend and interest income. And there is a meal tax, and booze taxes (all the liquor stores are run by the state). But there is no Income or Sales tax. Almost all of their revenue comes from property and gasoline taxes. Just don't live somewhere rich, like the coast or the southern part of the state with all those Boston commuters.
Posted by: Conan the Chowdahhead | Apr 11, 2006 11:46:08 AM
I was early to say that Corzine should be given a chance to live up to his grand rhetoric. He didn't even try. I wish I were surprised.
And, yeah, it'll be service cuts first -- all the front line services take it in the shorts because that's how bureaucrats wield power. You'll never see the office furniture, space and equipment budget cut before removing a music teacher or a cop on the beat.
Posted by: appletony | Apr 11, 2006 12:30:35 PM
