Governor Jon Corzine on Tuesday, April 3, signed into law two bills aimed at lowering/controlling property taxes. According to figures supplied by the governor’s office, here are the highlights of each bill: Assembly bill number 1 and its companion Senate bill number 20 will provide homeowners with immediate property tax relief. Homeowners with incomes up to $100,000 will receive a 20 percent reduction in property taxes through either a credit or a rebate. Those with incomes between $100,000 and $150,000 will receive a 15 percent reduction, and those with incomes between $150,000 and $250,000 will receive at 10 percent reduction. The overall average benefit for all eligible homeowners will be nearly $1,100. The average for senior homeowners is approximately $1,250. The average benefit for non-senior homeowners is approximately $1,000. Funding for tenant rebates will be doubled, with low-income tenants receiving a dramatic increase. The legislation also imposes a 4 percent property tax levy cap on school districts and all county and local governments. To address “extraordinary” increases in costs, the bill creates a limited waiver process for school districts that will be initiated for the 2008-2009 school year budgets. Under the new law, school districts and county and local governments are permitted to seek voter approval to exceed the tax levy cap, but it must pass by a super-majority of 60 percent of the voters, except for the upcoming school elections, where a simple majority of 50 percent will be required to approve a cap override. Assembly bill number 4 and its companion Senate bill number 19 is designed to encourage savings through the use of shared services, joint meetings, and municipal consolidation. The legislation also sets new rules to bring increased openness and transparency to the budgeting process for schools and municipalities. All municipal budgets and municipal employee salary changes are required to be posted online. Budgets must be accompanied by a user-friendly plain language guide. Additionally, all compensation, benefits, separation benefits, and contract terms for administrators must be clearly disclosed to the Commissioner of Education and will be made available for public review. The legislation also greatly expands the authority and responsibility of county superintendents of schools. They will have the authority to disapprove portions of a school district’s budget if a district has not implemented all potential administrative efficiencies or if a budget includes excessive non-instructional expenses. The executive superintendents also will be responsible for developing a plan to eliminate all so-called “non-operating” school districts, which are school districts without schools. Additionally, they will develop a proposal for submission to the voters to create or enlarge regional school districts so that school districts smaller than K-12 would be eliminated.