Without property taxes, local government can’t operate.

And with some residents needing help to pay mortgages, there is growing concern some may not be able to pay property taxes, which are collected quarterly; the next deadline is May 1.

This problem can be particularly acute in New Jersey, which has more than 500 distinct towns and even more school districts. This issue came up twice last week at Phil Murphy’s daily briefings, but the
governor – surprisingly perhaps – had nothing to say about it.

Today, Bob Menendez joined with one of his counterparts from the “the other side,” Republican Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, to unveil a $500 billion bill to benefit counties and other local governments.

As Cassidy observed, pandemic or not, “someone has to pick up the trash.”

As envisioned by the two senators, who spoke during a conference call, the $500 billion would be awarded to local government units by a formula that takes into account a locale’s population, COVID-19
infection rate and revenue loss caused by the virus. Both senators were upbeat about the bill’s chances of being passed and signed by the president.

This proposed legislation is separate from another relief bill making its way through Congress to benefit small businesses.

Menendez said New Jersey and Louisiana are among the states hardest hit by the pandemic. He said both states have fresh experience with natural disasters, mentioning Katrina and Sandy, but that this one is different.

“It’s like a hurricane sitting on land indefinitely,” he said.

An earlier relief bill – the CARES Act – has been criticized by some for not awarding money to the state’s four smallest counties – population wise. They are Salem., Hunterdon, Sussex and Warren. The
problem is a decades-old federal formula restricting such awards to counties of at least 500,000 people.

The proposed bill gets around that by dropping the threshold for counties and towns to 50,000, thereby making every county in the state eligible. Still, most municipalities in New Jersey do not have 50,000
people, setting up the prospect that most towns would have to obtain funds from their county governments.

Since the bill was just conceived, Cassidy said it’s not known yet how much money in total each state would get.

On a related matter, Menendez was asked about reopening the country.

This is fast becoming a contentious political issue with some Republicans in New Jersey and elsewhere demanding we get back to normal sooner rather than later.

Menendez said science must be the determining factor plus consumer confidence.

He said the lockdown can not end until people have “reasonable confidence” they can go to work, shop and dine out without fear of contracting the virus.