By Matt Rooney
Mikie Sherrill ran on a promise to make New Jersey affordable for families.
Now it’s looking like she was referring to her family, Save Jerseyans.
This week, New Jersey Globe was the first to report that Governor Sherrill and her family would be relocating to the governor’s mansion in Princeton (“Drumthwacket”) at the end of the current school year. New Jersey’s first family presently resides in Montclair, arguably the state’s spiritual epicenter of white suburban Leftism. It’s also uncoincidentally a political dumpster fire; the school system is grappling with a mystery $20 million deficit and the municipality itself is still grappling with a culture of corrupt dysfunction. Voters in one of the state’s most liberal towns narrowly defeated a permanent tax increase last month intended to rescue the district’s finances.
They did support a one-time infusion which will cost the average homeowner somewhere between a grand to a few thousands dollars. But the writing in on the wall. You get what you vote for, and inevitably you’ll be called upon to pay for it!
Interestingly, the Sherrill Administration has yet to confirm whether they’re selling the current family residence – a multi-million dollar home on one of Montclair’s more prestigious streets.
Assuming they do sell, is Mikie really moving for convenience? As has been suggested?
Or is the Sherrill clan excited about a four-to-eight year taxpayer-subsidized Princeton lifestyle at a time when Montclair property taxes are poised to explode in the coming years? Remember: in New Jersey, some towns see as much as 80% of our highest-in-America property tax burdens routed to K-12 schools.
“With Montclair property taxes set to spike after the school district ‘lost’ $20M (and when your own budget whacks your old neighbors), it’s nice to have tax-free, ‘affordable housing’ at Drumthwacket!!!” quipped Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia on Friday. “Maybe it’s time to sponsor the ‘Feel Our Pain Act’—move in, you pay what you used to in property taxes from your last residence (only if you sell your old digs, of course).”
Agreed. So we’ll be watching! And ready to make note of the likely (extreme) hypocrisy if a ‘for sale’ sign pops up this summer.
