A few years ago, the school taxes went up around $3,000. The state has no money and we will be hit with an additional $3,000 per household in taxes. That's $6,000 in less than 4 years, and no one is complaining. School taxes are going to go up even more as there is no money to help the municipalities. You may be looking at a total of $5,000 or more in increases this year. Some or all communities may be picking up teachers, police and emergency-medical plans, as the state may not be picking up the tab there either.

Our local freeholders gave themselves a 4-percent raise while raising the tax levy for the rest of us.

Florio and McGreevey kept telling us how far in debt we are and how we should cut corners and live within our means, and now Corzine is saying the same thing. How much more should we be asked to sacrifice?

You try to figure how much you can put away for retirement, and you are taxed until you are putting away nothing at all.

We are in the position of having to budget our finances, and the state should be accountable to those same principles.

Our politicians should be looking at ways to cut programs or finding ways to self-perpetuate funding to them, and they should be telling special-interest groups it is time to put our finances in check.

In other words: State government should tighten its belt and curb the runaway spending.

It is time our elected state and local officials start looking into ways to save our tax dollars. Do we need a new stadium, ball team, fleet of new gas-guzzling Durangos or licenses for illegal aliens? Do we need to subsidize developers for their projects, patronage jobs, pay-for-play? Let's get out of debt before we find ways to spend money we don't have.

Joseph Sinagra

HELMETTA