True Tax Reform

During these times of sky-rocketing property taxes and the discussion of "true" tax reform on the table the State Government and the voters should be looking towards eliminating existing layers of bureaucracy that are redundant at best, unnecessary at worst. We should be looking to eliminate County Government in its totality.

County Government in New Jersey is archaic and self aggrandizing. In decades past when many parts of New Jersey were considered rural and unincorporated the Freeholder Boards and the departments served an invaluable function, to make sure that people between cities and towns had access to services and decent roads to travel. But in today's New Jersey, where municipalities abut each other on all sides, they are just a layer of service that continues to grow and suck precious tax dollars from residents and local municipalities alike. New Jersey does not have an unincorporated area left.

Taxpayers are paying for County Zoning Boards that do nothing but duplicate the local Boards and add an extra fee, taxes and reviews to those seeking to build along County designated roads, many times trumping the Local Boards who know what is best in their communities. County Health, Weights and Measures, Animal Control and Development offices often duplicate the very same offices located in the municipalities. Even the Department of Public Works at the County duplicates the very services maintained by the locals. In Passaic, Clifton and Paterson by the time the County comes around for snow removal in County designated roads, the municipalities have already eradicated it from the very streets and roads the County supposedly maintains. They cannot wait for the County's limited fleet and workforce to do it since most of the designated roads are main arteries in these towns. But yet we pay for a service we never use, or need.

Years ago, the State of New Jersey took over the Courts in the Counties. The State should do the same for the Boards of Social Services, County Hospitals, Boards of Elections and Jails. With these major and truly necessary systems under the State's auspices, the rest of the County services can be eradicated, resulting in millions of dollars in savings to the taxpayers. In Passaic County alone, all the municipalities have held the growth of property taxes to reasonable levels, only the County Government has continued to grow their expenditures at uncontrollable rates that have resulted in a negation to the savings and controls that the municipalities have maintained.

The elimination of the County Government layer would effectuate a drop in the property taxes, eliminate duplicate services, force many towns into shared services and provide taxpayers with much needed relief.

Jose "Alex" Ybarra