Guest Blog by Mitchell Goldberg - dated 10/18/07

Dear Governor Christ:

I am very disappointed that the PIP requirement was reinstated by the legislature and I know that alternate proposals failed to gain support. It was a shame that our Legislature gave in to pressure from the Hospital Lobby, attorneys, and others, instead of reshaping our auto laws to make more sense for those of us who carry liability, collision, uninsured motorist coverage and have health insurance. Responsible auto drivers and citizens must now continue to pay for the irresponsible behavior of others--that is certainly not the way these matters should be structured but that fight is now history.

I am curious about your position on the Property tax changes. I was definitely against the original ballot issue because it did not guarantee keeping the save our homes cap in addition to tax savings. It also did not fully address portability. I am for property tax changes that make sense. We all pay too much in taxes, period. Cutting property taxes is a great idea, but how will that revenue be made up??? The local municipalities are irresponsible with money as they have used the large surpluses in taxes that went along with the real estate boom instead of investing them for the future well being of their communities. Schools, police, fire departmentts, etc., must all continue to operate, so it makes sense to do this, in a rational well-thought out way instead of rushing some half-baked compromise onto a ballot.

I read the synopsis of the new Democratic proposal in the paper, and I must say that this seems to be the best of all approaches that I have seen. I do wonder how the municipalities would make up the lost revenue??? Especially in areas where there are a lot of low income seniors who won't be paying property taxes. How would any raise in state sales tax (not sure if I am for that) get filtered down to the municipalities?? Could municipalities be forced to keep their budgets to a certain percent increase by state mandate??---- tax cuts are great, but they must also be met with finding ways to lower the $$$ spent--- as families do in crunch time.

Thanks for your time and effort in these issues. Please work hard to lower the tax burden for working families and keep everyone focused on the future well being of our communities. The wrong decisions here could spell disaster in decades to come. Good decisions here could restart the housing market and give a big boost to the economy. I have faith that the Legislature will give thoughtful consideration to all facts and proposals regardless of party affiliation and work for the betterment of the entire state.

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