Response by Rick Thigpen

There is widespread agreement that we need property tax relief. The voters appear eager to grab on to the idea of a property tax convention to achieve that goal. Never mind that there is no agreement on how to cut spending or raise revenues to accomplish this. Will the convention deliver relief to the voters? The cautionary note in these numbers is that the more the voters know about the convention, the more likely they are to have doubts about it.

Property taxes are clearly at the top of the political agenda for this fall. The voters are clearly dissatisfied but they are not yet focused on a cause or a solution. The challenge for political operatives of all stripes this fall will be to motivate the voters to support their candidates because of property taxes. Who will the voters blame? There is clearly much more work to be done before the partisan impact of a property tax convention can be clearly discerned.

Comment by Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind Academic Associate, Rick Thigpen (J.D., Columbia University Law School). Rick is a former Executive Director of the New Jersey Democratic Party and now a partner in The Strategy Group and is a campaign coordinator for the Essex County Democratic Party. Rick Thigpen, Esq. can be reached at (609) 394-0888.