Volunteer work in exchange for tax reduction? #FakeFix

The saying goes that the two things you can always count on are death and taxes. In New Jersey, our version varies slightly as it's death and ridiculously high taxes.

You can also count on a do-nothing Legislature and self-promoting governors to make up silly gimmicks to pretend that they are serious about addressing the problem. The reality for most of us in the Garden State is that taxes continue to rise with no end in sight. Our tax structure keeps young people from being able to afford a return to NJ and is certainly pushing many empty-nesters to pick up and move out.

Assemblyman Joseph Lagana has his own #FakeFix this time in the form of a tax reduction in exchange for volunteer hours. The bill would allow for taxpayers 60 years and older to essentially trade volunteer hours for a reduction in real estate taxes. What a dumb idea.

First of all, there is no offsetting cost reduction based on the seniors hours. The new volunteers would be doing extra work. Can you imagine the outcry if a volunteer senior replaced a paid worker to save budget money? Seems to me that towns will create busy work to give some seniors a break and solidify their future votes.

Secondly, there is no corresponding revenue generator to make up for the lost funds. When the government cuts taxes to stimulate economic growth, the cut is offset by additional wealth creation.

Thirdly, when will legislators finally get to the job of actually cutting taxes? Let's start with renegotiating health benefits as proposed by Sen. Jennifer Beck; this alone could save more than $2 billion. Maybe then move to firing many of the overpaid superintendents in the school system. Start with the guys taking five figure bonuses to get around the salary caps. Then there's the issue of converting new workers into 401k investing employees. Anybody take a look at the stock market lately?

Smart investors and cautious savers are way up over the past year. Certainly the folks in the private sector are doing better right now than the pension holders looking ahead to what is now more than $100 billion in unfunded future liabilities.

These are big issues to tackle for sure. Maybe we'll have a few sensible legislators coming in on Jan. 9th when the winners from November are sworn in for their terms. Given the track record of the past couple decades, confidence is not high. It's too easy for politicians and insiders like Lagana to grab a headline and a talking point for his future ads instead of fighting for meaningful reform that will actually help everyone. Incoming Gov. Phil Murphy has already promised to raise our taxes. Who among our elected leaders will have the courage to stand up and speak for us?

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea.

More from New Jersey 101.5: