WEST ORANGE, NJ
THE Garden State tax revolt is starting to bear fruit — and it’s about time, too.
On Tuesday, voters nixed 315 of 537 school-district budgets, including many that sought tax hikes. That’s a whopping 59 percent; usually, less than 30 percent fail. The state hasn’t seen anything close to even 50 percent rejected since 1976.
It all started with anti-tax GOP crusader Chris Christie’s defeat last fall of then-Gov. Jon Corzine in this Democratic-leaning state. Faced with an $11 billion cash shortfall, Christie quickly sliced state aid to schools by $820 million — and followed up with warnings that school boards should clamp down on costs, not just force hikes in property taxes and spend as usual.
It was a perfect test: If residents truly wanted standard, bloated school budgets, they’d have to ante up.
Christie went further, offering a bonus — greater state aid — to districts where teachers unions agreed to concessions. He urged voters to reject school budgets if the unions were intransigent.
The upshot: Only 20 districts or so won union pay freezes or givebacks; more than 80 percent sought property-tax hikes.
And the voters went with Christie in nearly 60 percent of districts.
Not only did they say “No way, Jose” to budgets, they also gave many school-board incumbents the boot, in an unusually heavy turnout for such a vote.
West Orange, a small town west of Newark in Essex County with about 44,000 residents (of which I’m one), tells the tale: Faced with a more than 60 percent drop in state aid — nearly $7 million — the school board prepared modest cuts. But personnel costs hog most of the budget, and teachers refused wage freezes. So the board went to the well yet again, seeking a 7.3 percent property-tax hike.
The $135 million budget — for 6,700 kids, that’s $20,000 apiece, far above the national average — represented a 1.6 percent spending increase, despite the loss of state aid.
For years, proposed tax hikes have triggered much harrumphing and foot-stomping in town. Essex County residents’ median property-tax bill, about $8,000, is the second-highest (as a percentage of income) in the nation — and West Orange often leads the county. But the complaints don’t carry the day: No school budget has failed here in years.
So taxes soar like clockwork; mine nearly doubled in the past decade alone.
This year, it’s different. Home values are down. Folks are out of work or facing pay cuts. Adam Kraemer, a plugged-in accountant who ran for school board, says foreclosures are skyrocketing.
Another $500 or $1,000 in property taxes, or more, would push many folks out of their homes — and further drive down housing values — all while teachers enjoy pre-arranged raises.
But would this pain bring the needed change? Essex is a liberal, pro-union bastion. At a school-budget presentation, almost every question concerned the “cuts.” Mine — “What has been done to control personnel costs?” — was the exception; it got a telling answer: “I don’t understand the question.”
Kraemer assured me that this was a typical PTA, pro-teacher crowd. (Who else comes out to school-budget presentations after a hard day at work?) Many others across town felt as I do.
He was right. In the run-up to Tuesday’s vote, e-mails raced back and forth. Blogs dedicated themselves to resistance. Last Sunday, budget foes staged a rally at Town Hall.
And on Election Day, what do you know? The budget tanked, 3,947-3,176.
Kraemer — who’s failed to win in the past, even though he’s clearly the smartest, most adult candidate — lost again this year. But in a four-way race for two seats, he came in third, beating an incumbent.
Alas, Tuesday’s vote isn’t the last word. Jersey’s town councils — elected by taxpayers — review defeated school budgets but needn’t cut them. With luck, though, they’ll get the voters’ message — and respect it.
In any case, West Orange — and 314 other districts — are surely off to a good start.
There’s more: Christie now hopes to leverage the tax revolt further. He’s calling for a 2.5 percent constitutional cap on property taxes, and stiff reforms to public-sector pensions, benefits and collective bargaining.
There’s hope for New Jersey yet. abrodsky@nypost.com