Garden State residents forked over 12.2 percent of their income to state and local taxes, marking the third straight year New Jersey was the highest taxed
(Left to right) Assemblyman Declan Joseph O'Scanlon, Jr. (R) Assemblyman Alex DeCroce (R), and Senator Stephen M. Sweeney (D), look on as Governor Chris Christie announces they have reached a deal on a key part of Christie's "tool kit" to help towns curtail property taxes on arbitration reform for police and firefighters in this December 2010 file photo.TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie has pledged to change New Jersey’s reputation for high taxes. Judging by a report released Wednesday by the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, the state has a long way to go.
New Jersey residents were the highest-taxed in the country in 2009, giving 12.2 percent of their income to state and local taxes.
Wednesday’s report covers former Gov. Jon Corzine’s last full year in office, and it was New Jersey’s third consecutive year with the dubious honor.
"The failed model of past administrations and the legislatures put an incredible burden on families," Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said. "Governor Christie has taken us in a different direction by enforcing fiscal discipline, reducing taxes to create jobs, spending only what we have — and refusing to go back to the well of our overburdened taxpayers."
Roberts pointed out that the Tax Foundation has improved New Jersey’s ranking for business tax climate, from 50th to 48th.
The Tax Foundation, a tax research group with a conservative bent, calculates the ranking by dividing the total amount of taxes paid by residents by the state’s total income.
Deborah Howlett, president of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a left-leaning think tank in Trenton, said the foundation’s ranking is flawed. "They have a clear agenda," said Howlett, a former communications director for Corzine. "It’s anti-tax and anti-government."
For example, she said, New Jersey has high property taxes but one of the lowest gas taxes. She also pointed out that the ranking focuses on how much residents pay, not the state’s policies. So when New Jersey residents pay income taxes in New York because they work on Wall Street, the Tax Foundation still counts that against the Garden State even though it doesn’t set the rates or see any of the money.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) said the ranking is no surprise to residents. "This past decade, the answer to everything was more taxes and more spending," he said. "That’s what we are determined to change."
Christie’s proposed $29.4 billion budget includes nearly $200 million in tax cuts, largely for businesses, that would reach $690 million after a five-year phase-in.
Previous coverage:
• N.J. now ranks 48th for tax climate, up from dead last
• N.J. property taxes rose, income fell, report shows
• Moran: N.J. Gov. Chris Christie's tax claims from conservative think tank are misinformed
• Group ranks New Jersey No. 1, again, for property taxes
• N.J. claims 7 of top 10 counties for highest property taxes in nation