What does ‘affordability’ really mean? Four N.J. lawmakers debate taxes, shared services and the bottom line

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge) often illustrates the limits of
government by pointing to the everyday expenses most residents face: The
government, he says, can’t reduce the price of a cell phone or a car.

But that doesn’t mean the government can’t have a great impact on affordability.

Speaking on a panel last Friday at a Public Policy Forum sponsored by the N.J.
Business & Industry Association, Coughlin said government can influence whether
people feel they’re getting a fair shot — whether they can make ends meet and believe
that New Jersey’s systems aren’t working against them.

That idea — that sense of a “fair deal” — dominated Coughlin’s comments on what
affordability means in New Jersey.

“Affordability is more than just reducing prices,” he said.

Coughlin, who controls the Assembly agenda, is able to set the narrative and drive the
discussion in Trenton.

He told a packed room of business leaders at the Princeton Marriott at Forrestal that
affordability means giving people the sense that they have opportunities — and that the
Legislature can do that by supporting community colleges, investing in innovation and
small businesses, and passing a bill, as the Legislature did, that he called “the best
affordable housing bill” in state history, one some estimate will bring 50,000 units over
the next decade.

The goal, Coughlin said, is to ensure people have a chance to live in those houses.

Other panelists were sharper in their tone.

Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger (R-Middletown) approached the topic from the
vantage point of local officials who must deliver blunt fiscal realities to those
homeowners.

“You’re talking to a former mayor,” he said. “The mayors are getting pounded every
August when the tax bills go out.”

Property taxes — driven largely by school budgets — are the most tangible and painful
affordability issue for many New Jerseyans, he argued.

“That’s what people feel.”

Scharfenberger said that’s especially true in areas that have seen school funding go
down.

He told a packed room of business leaders: “You have no idea how many people come
up and say, I can’t wait to get out of New Jersey every time they get their property tax
bill.”

Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Tinton Falls) framed affordability as a balance between the qualities
that attract both families and major employers — strong schools, cultural amenities,
proximity to New York and Philadelphia, and an appealing quality of life — and the
structural challenges that make the state expensive to run.

He said there’s a reason why Netflix is coming to New Jersey.

“Because their employees want to be here,” he said.

Gopal, however, said the state can do better on costs, detailing the potential benefits
that would come if more of the state’s more than 500 school districts had more shared
services.

“New Jersey has way too much government,” he said, emphasizing that duplicative
contracts, IT departments, transportation systems and municipal courts are draining
local budgets.

Gopal praised Gov. Mikie Sherrill for being willing to take on consolidation, despite the
political difficulty, arguing that shared-services reform could dramatically reduce
property-tax pressures.

Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Holmdel) is all about saving money.

He delivered the bluntest definition of “affordability” in New Jersey.

Affordability, he said, comes down to the bottom line — how expensive is your state to
exist as a business, as an individual, he said.

By that measure, New Jersey is a disaster, he said, noting that state often is last or near
the bottom of rankings measuring business climate.

The state, he said, has failed to address fundamental cost drivers and structural deficits.

“If you really want to talk about affordability, we have to get to those fundamental
things,” he said. “We have not done that in the past eight years. I hope that we can in
the coming years.”