In its final Report to the Legislature, the Property Tax Convention Task Force has recommended that education rights and school spending be off-limits if a constitutional convention is held to address New Jersey’s over-reliance on local property taxes.

The Legislature will now consider whether to allow voters to decide on holding a constitutional convention in the November election.

In its recommendations, the Task Force makes clear that the Convention should be "strictly limited to considering and making recommendations to reform the current system of property taxation," and that any consideration of levels of spending for municipal and education services should be beyond the scope of the convention. The Task Force concluded that "if a Convention were empowered to also address the level and purposes of spending, there would be no way to effectively confine the scope of the Convention to ensure against it becoming a forum for debate about divisive social issues."

In adopting the position taken by Education Law Center, the Task Force also recommended that the Convention be expressly prohibited from considering the constitutional guarantee of a thorough and efficient education for New Jersey children. In testimony to the Task Force, ELC Executive Director David Sciarra urged the Task Force to ensure the "T&E clause" – on which the landmark Abbott v. Burke rulings are based – could not be watered down or weakened in order to lower property taxes.

"We’re grateful to the Task Force for taking education rights and spending for our schools off the table," said Mr. Sciarra. "We now must make sure the Legislature follows through on the Task Force recommendations."

Report of the Constitutional Convention Task Force

Related Story:  ELC, Ed Groups, Warn Task Force to Stay Away from"T and E"