Candidates Promise to Make New Jersey Affordable Again

Kiera Fegan calls her bedroom her "sanctuary" because it's the one space in her parents' spacious East Brunswick, N.J. home that's her own.

It's tidy, with blueish-green walls that remind her of the ocean, and small pieces of art collected from concerts and shows. "If you're in a situation like the one I'm in, it's very important to have your own space," Fegan says.

A lot of young people in New Jersey are in her situation. Fegan is a single, college-educated, 26-year-old with a simple wish: an apartment of her own.  But with the high cost of housing in New Jersey, the inability to find a teaching job after graduating from Ramapo College with a degree in history and education, and $800-a-month in college loan debts, Fegan doesn't see a way out before her 30th birthday.

"You feel like you're in this purgatory between childhood and adulthood," she says. Her parents make her feel welcome, but the reality, she says, is "you still feel like you're living under somebody else's rules."

Even with a full-time job as a compliance officer during the week, and working nights and weekends as a supermarket cashier, she cannot afford the most basic $1,000-a-month apartment. And that loan debt, is just her half. Her parents pay the other $800.

The high cost of living in New Jersey has become the central issue in the race for governor. The six top candidates all say they have a plan to cut the state's highest-in-the-nation property taxes,  but all are lean on details — like how they will pay for the programs they're proposing.

The four Democrats running are State Assemblyman John Wisniewski, former U. S. Treasury Undersecretary Jim Johnson, former Goldman Sachs executive Phil Murray, and State Sen. Ray Lesniak.

The GOP candidates are Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and State Assemblyman Jack Cittarelli.

Whoever wins has significant hurdles. In addition to the nation's highest property taxes, New Jersey has a higher than average number of adult children living at home, slow job creation, and many residents leaving for more affordable places — from as close as Pennsylvania or as far as California.

Each is promising to cut property taxes and lure out-of-state businesses that will bring middle-class jobs. They also say they can find money by tapping federal resources or curbing state waste.

The Democrats want to cut property taxes by encouraging towns to share services like police and fire. They also say the state should give public schools the money the state owes them so that homeowners don’t have to make up the difference - which is what’s happening under Christie. Phil Murphy has proposed a $15-dollar-minimum wage, a benefit union workers have been clamoring for, and sick leave for all workers.

Democrat Jim Johnson wants to lower the cost of getting a college education. For families making less than 90-thousand dollars,he wants to offer free tuition for students at junior college.

In the Republican Primary, State Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli also wants to lower the cost of higher education by making the interest on college loans tax deductible. He also wants to limit public employee benefits to lower property taxes.

"This notion of people being able to retire with a pension plus social security, both of which were paid for by the taxpayer and having zero out-of-pocket expense … is absurd to me," he said.

The centerpiece of Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno’s plan is to lower taxes with what she calls the circuit-breaker.

"If you pay more than 5 percent of your household income to property taxes … school property taxes then you trip the circuit-breaker and you don’t have to pay anymore," Guadagno said. 

But James Hughes, Dean of the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, urges caution for voters. He says New Jersey is expensive to live and do business in because its infrastructure is old, and the politics are entrenched.

"Every election you hear we’re going to lower your property taxes, we’re going to cut expenses, get rid of waste fraud and abuse and the like, and nothing changes," Hughes said.