Blame it on the economy. Blame it on past practices. Blame it on budget-balancing gimmicks. Blame it on unfunded pension liabilities. Whoever and whatever you want to blame for New Jersey’s fiscal mess, you’ve got to at least put some of the blame on home rule. And whatever you think of Corzine’s budget, he gets that:

This substantial commitment recognizes the heavy burden property taxes place on New Jersey families. It also recognizes the power and traditions of home rule. Obviously, no governor can single-handedly fix New Jersey’s local property tax problem. Our state’s 566 towns and 616 school districts need to rationalize their cost structures and hold spending under the cap. They need to share and consolidate services. Until these actions broadly take hold, the underlying problem will remain.

Simply put, New Jersey has too many layers of government. To the credit of many, the process of restructuring is gaining momentum across the state, and we will continue to promote consolidation and shared services wherever and whenever they make sense. There are incentive dollars in this budget that do just that.

Corzine may be overly optimistic that “restructuring” is “gaining momentum,” at least in regards to school districts. But there’s no way we’ll lower property taxes without also lowering the expensive redundencies spawned by our fixation on local governance.