Well, surprise, surprise — look what we found!
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and Democratic legislative leaders were crowing Thursday, announcing that a tax-amnesty program that ended this week had produced a windfall of some $700 million.
That will allow the governor and the Legislature — both up for re-election this year — to restore property-tax rebates and allow 90 percent of Garden Staters to continue taking property taxes as a state income-tax deduction.
Or, as Senate President Dick Codey put it, “It’s Christmas in June.”
But here’s the rub: Though the windfall was billed as a last-minute surprise, officials have known almost from the get-go that the amnesty was producing a revenue flood.
Indeed, just two weeks into the program, the Division of Taxation quietly doubled its announced collection goal to $200 million.
Moreover, the state collected $201 million in just one day a week ago — though this wasn’t announced until just hours before the Legislature was set to vote on this year’s budget. And three Senate Democrats had expressed reservations about approving the outlay — enough to prevent passage.
A way to shore up doubtful votes — while, at the same time, giving the poll-challenged Corzine the chance for a dramatic, voter-friendly announcement?
What do you think?
Unfortunately, the windfall has given legislators new opportunities to spend. (See above: “Christmas in June.”)
Actually, such manipulation of information about available government revenue constitutes a form of political corruption, even by Jersey’s lax standards.
No, it’s not illegal.
But it’s morally wrong.
One more thing: It’s why no one should be writing Jon Corzine’s political obituary quite yet.