Local taxes
In response to my post yesterday on NJ taxes, Enlighten-NJ brought up a vital point,

most of the studies fail to include the local property taxes in their calculations when they analyze tax burden per capita.

Add ’em all up and Mew Jersey is the worst of the worst

The current proposals will affect the middle class, and then keep in mind that real estate taxes are not deductible from Federal returns if you’re subject to the alternative minimum tax,

The individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) was intended to guarantee that high income people paid at least some tax, but it is poorly designed in several respects. Most notably, it is not indexed for inflation, which means that normal price level increases cause more and more comparatively modest-income households to be subject to the complicated shadow tax system.

Additionally, the local taxes contiue to grow at even higher rates than the state taxes, as this story shows:
Borough Council introduces hold-the-line budget with 5-cent tax hike. Last year’s one-time revenues have dried up.

The preliminary 2005 budget carries a tax rate of 89 cents per $100 of assessed property value, 6 percent more than last year’s 84-cent rate.

Lawrence residents are facing a whopping 16 percent property tax rate hike: Lawrence residents repeat calls for tax reliefAs many New jersey readers of this blog know, fighting tax hikes in NJ is a thankless job. It takes a mix of hardheadedness and perseverance to even stay on this tiresome subject for long. Municipalities are deaf and continue to spend beyond their means, no matter how the bills pile up. This frustration shows,

When Mr. Mott expressed concern that municipal property taxes could double in 10 years, Mayor Pam Mount said no one knows whether that would happen and then praised Mr. Mott for being the only person who has attended the council budget meetings on a regular basis.
Mr. Mott replied that few people attend the budget meetings because the voters are “disillusioned” with Township Council and the way it handled the failed school budget last year. He added that he is impressed with the manner in which the council is handling its own budget, but the voters are discouraged.

Roberto gets the last word,

I don’t know if NJ bloggers will make a difference in this fight over budgets and taxes, but if we fail it won’t be due to a lack of effort or shortage of facts.