TRENTON — Assembly Democrats today said revenue reports coming out of Gov. Chris Christie’s administration may be a little too rosy, although the state is on track to meet its projections. The treasurer last month said state income tax revenue came in 11.3 percent higher than was forecast from July to December. But an official from the non-partisan Office...
Assembly Budget Chair Louis D. Greenwald speaks during an Assembly Budget Committee hearing in December.TRENTON — Assembly Democrats today said revenue reports coming out of Gov. Chris Christie’s administration may be a little too rosy, although the state is on track to meet its projections.
The treasurer last month said state income tax revenue came in 11.3 percent higher than was forecast from July to December. But an official from the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services told the Assembly Budget Committee that his office’s projections showed income tax revenue coming in at about 1 percent less than last year, which is about what they anticipated.
“It seems to me in review with your office that those (higher) figures are possibly incorrect, if not misleading,” said Assembly Budget Chairman Lou Greenwald (D-Camden).
At issue is loss of revenue from the expiration of the state’s “millionaire’s tax” on households earning more than $400,000 a year. Legislative Budget and Finance Officer David Rosen said the administration appears to have spread the loss out over each of its monthly revenue projections, while his office did not, because most of that loss will be felt when people file their taxes in April and May.
“Most of the income that’s taxed at that highest rate is not subject to withholding. It’s not coming in peoples’ paychecks,” said Rosen.
Assembly Republican Budget Officer Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monouth) jumped to the administration’s defense, saying it was a debate about a “method of accounting” and that it did not matter out as long as the state met its revenue projections at the end of the fiscal year.
“I want to dispell that there is any impression that anyone intended to mislead anyone, or that there is any real significance to these numbers as they’ve been stated,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve seen this administration ever be guilty, so far, of looking at the world through rose-colored glasses.”
Greenwald originally wanted state Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff to testify at the hearing, and was upset when he declined. Sidamon-Eristoff is attending a business summit with Christie this morning.
Greenwald said he did not think the treasurer’s office was intentionally misleading the public with the revenue projections.
Sidamon-Eristoff had warned in a press release last month that there was more uncertainty in revenues for the period between January and April, but said that may be because some wealthy residents expected the Bush-era tax cuts to expire and so took their income in 2010 instead of 2011.