Courier-Post - Daggett Offers Plan To Ease Tax Burden

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Independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett has a message for skeptical voters: Neither Democrats nor Republicans in the State House have made a dent in their tax burden.

"This isn't the lesser of evils. We've got to start voting for the person that we feel is the best person to be the governor of this state," the one-time Republican official said Tuesday at a meeting with the Courier-Post editorial board. "I have been trying to run my campaign in a positive way, laying out the issues, trying to get people to vote for somebody rather than against somebody this time."

Daggett discussed topics ranging from teachers' contracts to tax-code changes. He also answered questions from an online audience.

"Democracy is about everybody earning every vote," Daggett said when asked if his candidacy was hurting Republican Chris Christie to the benefit of Democratic Gov. Jon S. Corzine. "The idea that Republicans own certain votes and Democrats own others is sheer nonsense. It's never wrong to vote for the right person."

Daggett is backed by 14 percent of likely voters in a race where Corzine and Christie are tied at 39 percent, a Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll showed Tuesday.

And his support has almost doubled since early October. Christie is down four points and Corzine is down one point from Oct. 1, the poll showed.

"I don't believe the polls are capturing how upset people are with both parties across this state," said Daggett. "Suddenly, for a guy who says I don't have a chance, Chris Christie is spending a lot of money trying to beat me up on the airwaves."

Daggett said the state should broaden its sales tax in order to cut property taxes.

"We are highly weighted toward property taxes that are a huge burden on homeowners across the state," he said. "It's also unfair and unbalanced in the sense that the sales tax, which was originally put on goods, has brought in declining revenues because of the shift . . . to a service-based economy."

Daggett proposes cutting property taxes by 25 percent, with a maximum reduction of $2,500, and lowering the income tax rate. He would tax nonessential services -- such as those from lawyers and architects -- that aren't currently taxed.

And he would place a hard cap on municipal spending tied to the consumer price index. Residents of municipalities that exceed the cap would lose the property tax break.

"It's got a good hammer in it that gives voters the opportunity to vote people out of office if they continue to exceed that cap," he said.

Daggett is a former regional administrator at the federal Environmental Protection Agency under President Ronald Reagan. He served twice under former Republican Gov. Tom Kean, first as deputy chief of staff from 1981 to 1984 and then as Department of Environmental Protection commissioner from 1988 to 1989.

Last year, Daggett was tapped by Corzine to lead a task force that studied the DEP's efficiency. That experience convinced him to run for office, Daggett said.

Daggett predicted savings from municipal consolidation would not justify the expense and effort of such initiatives.

"In the past 32 years, we've talked about how important it is to reduce the number of municipalities," he said. "And guess what? Today we have 566 municipalities (down from 567 in 1977). That means two municipalities in 32 years have decided to consolidate."

Daggett said he would rein in spending to shrink next year's projected $8 billion shortfall.

"Aid to municipalities, aid to education, Medicaid costs and the health care and pension benefits of public employees -- that's where I want to spend my political capital. Because that 80 percent of the state budget is where the real costs are," he said.

Daggett said his independence would free him to do what most New Jersey politicians cannot or will not: Wrest concessions on health care contributions and pensions from public workers.

He acknowledged that taking on the state's powerful unions could cost him politically, but added, "I can at least show some real gains in terms of the costs that I've cut as opposed to a bunch of consolidated districts that I'm not guaranteed any cost savings on."

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