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 SWEEPING REFORM

In 1988 legislation sponsored by Senator Gerald R. Stockman (S-1952 of 1988) was introduced in the New Jersey Senate which was designed to overhaul and improve the administration of property taxes in New Jersey. The

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

bill grew out of recommendations issued in 1986 by the New Jersey Property Tax Assessment Study Commission, of which the Senator was a key member. I served as the Secretary to that commission.

 LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL

The proposed le

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

islation was designed to reform the State's antiquated property tax system. The legislation created a new property tax administrative structure to help property taxpayers avoid the vicious cycle of long term malassessment, punctuated by devastating rev

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

luations, which has so long plagued many municipalities in this State. Stockman's bill would have reformed the current system under which, in practice, local assessors operate under working conditions and standards dictated by the arrangements they ha

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

e worked out with local officials.

 CURRENT SYSTEM

The current system was and is distinguished by a loosely defined relationship between State, county and municipal assessment roles, a lack of clearly-stated standards of appraisal a

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

d record keeping for municipal assessors and a lack of full-time supervision over assessors, an absence of specific, practical goals and schedules for revaluations, reassessments and the maintenance of current property valuation, an absence of centrali

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

zed guidance and direction in the development and implementation of computer-assisted mass appraisal, and an unwillingness or inability of many municipalities to provide adequate support for the assessment function.

 CLEAR CHAIN OF AUTHORITYeasingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi
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Stockman's bill tightened and clarified property tax administration on the State, county and municipal level. The legislation would have, at long last, provided for clear, Statewide objectives and standards for property assessment, and a clea

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

chain of authority over the assessment function.
STATE LEVEL

On the State level, Stockman's bill created an Assessment Administration Review Board, to establish standards and guidelines for the assessment of property, and a new Di

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

ision of Local Property Tax and Assessment, to administer the standards established by the board. The board would have guided the State in responding to problems and issues in property taxation, including the performance of local assessors and revalua

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

ion firms, the minimum size of assessment employment districts, and standards for assessors' compensation, staff, office space and equipment. The division would have served as a clearly-defined central authority on property assessment, reassessment an

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

d revaluation, on the performance of local tax assessors and revaluation firms, and on computerized assessment.
COUNTY LEVEL

On the county level, the bill created the position of County Property Assessment Supervisor. The county s

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

pervisor would have been an employee of the new division, and would have been directly responsible for overseeing the work of local assessors, and the review and correction of local assessment lists. The county tax board would have continued to perfo

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

m equalization and rate setting functions, and would continued to hear tax appeals. In this manner, the bill separated the supervision of assessment work from the decisions on appeals over the results of that work.
MUNICIPAL LEVEL

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

On the municipal level, the assessor would have remained responsible for the assessment of property, the processing of exemptions, deductions, and other current responsibilities, performed under standards adopted by the review board and administered by

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

the division, through the county supervisor. Municipalities would have been held to standards concerning assessors' salaries, staff, office space and equipment. The bill established a $16 million program of State aid to municipalities for assessment

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

administration, and for the purchase of computer equipment and software to be installed in conjunction with revaluations.
PERMANENT RELIEF

This bill would have provided permanent relief from the malassessment/revaluation cycle, by

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

eforming our tax administration system. By addressing the key issues in property assessment this bill would have provided for an assessment system that was more efficient at keeping pace with changes in the state's property ratable base and would have

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

provided for more uniform assessments. By adopting this bill, the state would have said goodbye forever to a system under which both property owners and local officials end up being punished for inequities and inefficiencies.
TIME MIGHT BE R

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

GHT

Now with the ‘Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services' in the New Jersey legislature looking into consolidation of municipal services perhaps the time is right to revisit Senator Stockman's legislation

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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