Special Session to Address Property Tax Hikes Amendment

by KYW's David Madden

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has called legislators into a special session in Trenton on Thursday to address his call for a constitutional amendment limiting property tax hikes to 2½ percent.
It's no surprise Republicans like Burlington County State Senator Diane Allen would support Christie's meeting although she'd like to go one step further:

"We're all looking at the constitutional amendment to cap the increases in property taxes, which is very important.  But along with that we also have to cap spending."

And she'd had a constitutional amendment bottled up for a half-dozen years that would cap spending at the rate of inflation, paired with population growth.  There are several budget-oriented amendments proposed on both sides of the aisle.

Christie's hopes to get his cap plan on the November ballot hinge on Democrats releasing the measure from Assembly and Senate Committees in a week, something legislative leaders suggest won't happen.