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I recently noticed that more and more House For Sale signs are going up and that many who had moved in only a year ago or less are already putting up their homes for sale. What is happening? My guess is that people are fed up with all the taxes, be it the high property taxes or the so-called non-tax items like the raising of fees that are being proposed in the legislature.

Are we the people of New Jersey just seen as a source of revenue by the legislature? We should be seen as the people who they represent and do our bidding. In this case most of us want the high cost of taxes, including fees, to be reduced. Our representatives should be looking into cutting costs across the board. The system is broken right now and needs to be fixed or it will fail those who it serves. Without an adequate and fair system of taxation this state will slowly die off. The people coming in are not in the same income bracket as those who have elected to leave and can not afford to pay the same high level of taxes as those that have leaving. It seems that some of those elected officials do not see this reality, but only envision an electorate that they can keep milking without let up.

Well to me saying that the legislature has greedy officials within it is an understatement of the facts. Some are controlled by special interests, others by political bosses or by both. In the recent past the Teachers Union President (NJEA) would just walk in the legislature and tell them what to do until Chris Christie came along. Governor Christie has stood up and said no to the NJEA with the result that with bipartisan support of many good pieces of legislation that have been put into law. Such as the two percent tax cap on municipal budgets, this is a shining example of what good results can happen for the people via the lawmaking process.

Is the New Jersey Middle Class going to be able to stay or has a mass migration started that can not be stopped? Stopping people from leaving this state will only happen when the horrendous (system of) taxes that are imposed upon all of us who live in this wonderful state are fixed. Enabling those elected to public office to continue in their tax and spend ways by not voting against such individuals is just one of the fixes the voting public can do. Another is to contact those who represent you and make it plain that you are fed up with the high taxes we have and make it crystal clear to them that you will not stand for the raising of fees either!

The enactment of such laws as the Prevailing Wage Act must be appealed; it raises the cost of state projects needlessly. And the school taxes must be lowered and the way they are spent must be better regulated. Another problem is that the NJ Supreme Court misinterprets the NJ Constitution in its Abbott ruling, what the constitution states is this “requiring the Legislature to establish a system of ‘thorough and efficient education’, not a system of equal distribution of funds for education. A new constitutional amendment must be passed and voted into law that the fix the method of how the schools are funded. Also, it must prevent the Court from misinterpreting the law on school funding. Throwing good money after bad has not helped, it might have even made things worse.

Like Little Red Riding Hood seeing the Wolf has disguised himself as her grandmother, we the people must move forward into a future without a murky view of how are taxes are being spent and why they are so high. Only you can make a change for the better. Contacting your legislators and telling them how you feel about how bad our tax system has become is a necessity, for if we do not take control of the state of New Jersey it will become a wasteland. Those who do not vote have only themselves to blame for how bad the taxes have become and those who vote, but do not voice their concerns have no voice in the process.

That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike