Taxing rich at three times the rate of neighboring states is stifling growth, according to governor
Gov. Chris Christie speaks to reporters as Lt. Gov.Kim Guadano listens prior to a ground breaking ceremony at a new facility site where Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc ., will build a 225,000 square-foot build-to-siut office and distribution center in Monmouth Junction. TRENTON — Even if property taxes don’t immediately drop, Gov. Chris Christie said Monday he wants to cut income taxes within the next "year or two" — sooner than he promised on the campaign trail.
Taxing the rich at a rate three times higher than neighboring states is stifling growth and needs to be dealt with soon, Christie said Monday in a radio interview.
"I’m less sanguine about the property tax decrease in the short term than I am about the fact that they will see during my first term an income tax decrease," he said on Bloomberg radio. "We have to do that in order to make New Jersey more competitive with our neighbors. ... And I’m hoping to be able to do that in the next year or two."
New Jersey’s progressive income tax system charges high-earners nearly 9 percent on some of their earnings. That’s nearly three times higher than in Pennsylvania, which taxes everyone at a flat rate of about 3 percent.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said an income tax cut sounds nice, but he wasn’t sure the state could afford to reduce a tax that is expected to bring in nearly $10 billion to the state this year — more than a third of the state budget.
"That’s another good sound bite," Sweeney said of Christie’s message. "You know, it’s nice to say those things, but how real are they in this economy right now?
Beyond being proactive, Christie’s tactic to lure and keep businesses is to pitch his effort to make New Jersey business-friendly as it competes with other states.
The Republican governor Monday celebrated a decision by Coca-Cola to build a bottling plant — and 1,000 jobs — in the state. But there wasn’t anything specific Christie promised the bottling company — no incentives, tax breaks or pending legislation.
"More than anything, they’ve created a positive business environment, they opened their arms when we reached out to the economic development folks," Coca-Cola spokesman Toney Anaya said.
Instead, Coca-Cola did not like what it saw in other places it could run its northeastern distribution — such as New York, where state lawmakers came close to passing a tax on sugary drinks and soda.
"A lot of factors that impact our business, public policy issues, we certainly look for," Anaya said at the groundbreaking Monday in Monmouth Junction.