Common ground in Trenton: Protect the wealthy

Recent news stories about the farmland assessment tax breaks state Sen. Ellen Karcher and Commerce Bank founder Vernon Hill have received by virtue of having sold more than $500 in produce - Christmas trees and cords of wood - have renewed calls for reform of the farmland assessment program.
Trouble is, the discussion already took place in the Legislature last year. One of the four special committees on property tax reform proposed a Constitutional amendment that would have increased the farmland assessment roll-back tax period to six years, from the current two, and imposed a "conveyance tax" on land sold to developers. But the Legislature, as it did with many of the 98 reforms proposed by the committees, rejected the idea. The committee studying farmland assessment saw no need to increase the $500 gross receipts threshold for qualifying for farmland assessment - an amount that has remained unchanged since the program was established more than 40 years ago.
Karcher blamed the failure to amend the farmland assessment program on the Republicans, specifically Sen. Leonard Lance of Hunterdon County. Fact is, the special committee recommended reform, and the Democratic-controlled Legislature rejected it. When it comes to protecting the interests of the rich, the party label doesn't matter.