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Look, let's face it: property taxes are a red herring. Lowering them will not fix the disconnect between Trenton and the municipalities. NJ remains the last state in the nation to use property taxes to finance municipal government; the state will only permit them to go so far; meanwhile the state uses it own levy system to run its own affairs, and meddle with that of municipalities. All of this is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. What is needed is a complete constitutional change in the way schools are paid for. If the issue were simply municipal taxes, no one would raise an eyebrow. In Montgomery Township, a high income, high-value real estate, well performing school district, municipal taxes last year were only $1558 - big deal. The county taxes were higher by a few hundred dollars. Schools are the killer. But here's the problem: because taxes come in one big gag-inducing bill, people get upset when they see it in one place, and opportunistic sorts get themselves elected by claiming "NJ has the highest taxes in the country!" Not true: NJ taxes are #28 in the country for persons with average income, according to some economic studies.#28! If you want to see high property tax, move to Connecticut, where they have a property tax on your house, car, boat, airplane, whatever. My wife and I would pay $1200 more per year in Connecticut. We have the second lowest gas tax in the country, which helps underwrite those humongous SUV's people wheel around in. No one in Trenton has the will to raise the gas tax. Why is that? It's a moneymaker, much of it underwritten by interstate travel on the Turnpike, people won't mind it of they know it pays off the debt, it makes sense. But the Legislature won't do it. Other states have lower sales tax, but they charge it on everything: The result is you pay more over the year on sales tax at a lower rate, than we would in NJ. Is it rational, please, somebody tell me, that the sales tax on a Big Mac is bigger than the sales tax on a $2,000 men's suit? This doesn't make sense. Suggestion: put the schools on a county system, pay for them with a combination of statewide taxes, excise, county and municipal taxes as they do in Pennsylvania. And stop rearranging the deck chairs!