Regina M. Egea, the president of Garden State Initiative, on Thursday questioned Gov. Phil Murphy’s call for higher taxes as part of his plan for New Jersey, noting the Department of Treasury’s report that tax collections are up by approximately $1 billion compared to last year.
“Driven by a strong national economy and tax increases already enacted by Governor Murphy, the Treasurer is reporting that revenue collections are well ahead of last year, especially in personal income and business taxes, two of the three areas that shoulder the largest burden of funding our state government,” she said.
According to the report, for the first six months of the fiscal year, overall collections totaled approximately $13.9 billion, up $986.4 million or 7.6%, compared to the same six-month period last year. Corporate Business Tax collections of $1.8 billion were up $257.9 million or 16.8% higher than last year; the Gross Income Tax reached almost $6 billion, up $323.2 million or 5.7%; and the Sales Tax collected $4.3 billion, a 7.6% increase.
“As part of Governor Murphy’s State of the State address, he called for even more revenue from tax increases. New Jersey residents have to be asking, ‘Why are more tax increases on the table?’ If these robust revenue collections are used to reduce, rather than increase our tax burden, there is an opportunity to make New Jersey more affordable, make New Jersey more competitive, and get New Jersey back on the road to prosperity,” Egea concluded.
