"No" To State Taxes On Senior Communites
By Gordon Bishop (03/16/05)
It’s not enough that state government taxes senior citizens, “Big Brother” now wants to take over control of New Jersey’s senior communities.
Seniors 55 years of age and older are organizing to stop a move by some state legislators and bureaucrats to charge each senior unit $6 a year to pay for a “public advocate” to protect the seniors’ rights.
The last thing the nearly bankrupt State of New Jersey needs is yet another lawyer and staff to oversee the more than one million seniors living in age-restricted adult communities throughout the Garden State.
State Senator Robert Singer, a Republican, said state government is looking to tax senior citizens who are already taxed enough.
Looking into the future, Singer declared, “What communities are paying $23 now will end up costing $2,300.”
New Jersey has the unfortunate distinction of having the highest property taxes in the nation.
Legislation introduced by State Senator Shirley Turner, a Democrat, would start with a $6-a-year registration fee to bankroll the training of an ombudsman (public advocate) and staff at Rutgers University to cover low- and moderate-income housing grants and legal fees.
New Jersey does not need another bureaucracy, especially for controlling adult communities, which already are self-governed with boards of trustees who live in these popular enclaves.
“I don’t care whether it’s local, county, state or federal, when government is involved it costs money from the bottom all the way to the top,” asserted Ruth Wittich, the 71-year-old president of the Leisure Knoll at Manchester Association. “Government intervention at any level will cost more money.”
Wittich asked, “Do you think the state, county or municipality will do better by the residents than people who live there?” To which she answered: “I don’t.”
Adds Robert Scheurle, a 79-year-old trustee at Crestwood Village III in Manchester: “There is no way the state can run our community more cheaply that we do because they can’t beat free.”
Moreover, the trustees live in the community and care about all the property in the community,” Scheurle emphasized.
State Senator Leonard Connors, a Republican, said the proposed legislation will “never make it to the floor (for a vote) – not as long as I am around. I will not help people create a cash cow.”
Peter Smith, an 84-year-old resident of Silver Ridge Park West, said he was concerned that a homeowners association could be dissolved if 60 percent of the residents vote to do so. Smith sees this as an attempt to end age-restricted communities in New Jersey.
Smith warned that the senior tax legislation “will make people throw up their hands and leave.” And, he predicts, “Once the seniors leave, the tax rate in those municipalities will triple.”
Senator Turner calls her attack on adult communities “democracy” working in the best interests of the people.
No, that’s not “democracy.” It’s Big Government over-taxing and over-regulating mature adult citizens where they live in their remaining “golden” years.
It’s no wonder tens of thousands of seniors are leaving New Jersey to avoid the highest property taxes, and one of the highest automobile and insurance property rates in the nation.
Yes, it is sunnier and warmer south of New Jersey, where seniors are able to live in a comfortable and affordable environment.
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