Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) called the compromise reached between Christie and Democratic legislative leaders a significant achievement.
"For too long, the system has been tilted in favor of the public unions, and arbitrators have enjoyed too free a hand in crafting contracts that did not even have to consider a town's ability to pay," Sweeney said.
"This compromise legislation will ensure that taxpayers are protected and that workers are treated fairly. It's a revolutionary change for arbitration in general, and especially for New Jersey."
The measure, which would set a cap on arbitrated salary increases, does appear to strengthen the hand of municipalities at the bargaining table. But given the small portion of property taxes that goes toward police and fire salaries - most property-tax dollars flow to school districts - it is difficult to say what the impact would be on homeowners' tax bills.
Critics of the current salary-arbitration process - which determines compensation when contract negotiations reach an impasse - say it is so favorable to unions that towns routinely settle for pay increases higher than they would like for fear of the alternative. Not only can the arbitration produce higher salaries, but it is also lengthy and expensive.
"For the past three decades, no other single driver has had a great impact" on property-tax increases, said Bill Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.
Dressel and other critics say that arbitrators place too much weight on what neighboring towns award unions and not enough on what a municipality can afford to pay.
Public-safety unions, on the other hand, say that the system is not broken, and that they should be fairly compensated for difficult work that is often life-threatening.
"We do feel the police and firefighters of the state are being unduly blamed for property taxes," said Bill Lavin, president of the state Firemen's Mutual Benevolent Association.
