Guest Column
Your Turn
Legislature fails state's average taxpayers
Bill Vick

I just finished reading Greg Bean's column, "Tax Reform: They've Got Some 'Splainin' to Do," Dec. 13, (excellent, by the way), and I am perplexed. The source of this confusion is the realization that I have become a second-class citizen.

When did I lose my repre-sentation in the state government? Who represents me? My goodness, there were enough examples of special interest pandering over the last week or two to fill a volume on ineffective government. Government with no guts. Nobody has any guts to make the "right" decision.

I thought I should find out more about this issue being decided in Trenton, so I went to the state Web site and pulled up the S-42 legislation, all 85 pages of it.

Have you tried to read one of these bills? Good luck. The collection of legislation changed, removed, superseded, not to mention the new code in this bill simply boggles the mind. What language are these written in? It cannot be understood in detail without a week's time for research.

So, boiled down a touch, we have this property tax problem in New Jersey that has us paying one of the highest rates in the country, and how do we fix that? The most obvious answer is that we reduce expenditures. Everyone will agree to that. Money that is unspent does not need to be collected in taxes. Simple, right?

Well, not really. Who will give up some of their money? Lots of great measures on the table in Trenton. Which will be enacted? I may be wrong, but it seems the only measures that passed a vote in either house of the state Legislature were the ones that stripped more services/coin from me and those like me - the folks too busy with a career and family to be involved in a special interest. Too busy working to pay my income, property, sales, use taxes so that those on the state dole can enjoy the raft of benefits supplied to them by my tax payments! The benefits described aptly by Mr. Bean in the aforementioned column.

Lets face it, these folks, every one of them, are consumers. They produce nothing. While I understand the need for most of the services they provide, I don't understand why they should be treated far better than the folks that pay their salary.

We actually paid them (vacation or on the clock) to protest in Trenton to take more of our money! The gall. Unbelievable. Again, aptly described by Mr. Bean, I am one of those without a pension, with dwindling holidays and vacation time. One of those who pays a huge amount for my health care. You know who you are.

Feeling trampled? I am. Frus-trated? You bet. I read someplace once that a democracy fails when folks find out they can vote themselves more money. Hmmmm...

Now here in Metuchen we definitely don't all agree about a lot of things, but I'll bet one of the things almost everyone agrees about is the desire to maintain control of our schools.

While we may fight it out internally and locally deciding how our money is spent, that's our business. As a community we have poured millions of dollars into our school infrastructure recently so that our kids get the education we want them to get.

That's simple, right? I care about that. It's worth it. We voted and chose to spend the money. It makes Metuchen a better place in which to live and raise kids.

It is an absolute joke to have someone in New Brunswick or Trenton control what we can and cannot do for our schools in Metuchen (any more than they already do) or even if they should continue as a separate entity. A political appointee, no less!

Can you spell duped? Well, we are. Am I surprised that I lose again in the state government sweepstakes? Nope. Been losing in Trenton for years. I am only surprised that it has taken this long to sink in that I and many of you are the second-class citizens of this state, the unrepresented. Guess I've been too busy working and paying my taxes. Shame on me.

Bill Vick is a resident

of Metuchen