Posted on 03/21/2006 11:26:17 AM PST by hipaatwo
TRENTON - Increases in sales and cigarette taxes, steep education cuts, and a broken campaign promise on property-tax rebates highlight the "painful" $30.9 billion budget that Gov. Corzine will present to the Legislature today.
The former Wall Street financier is the only governor in the region to announce new taxes this year. Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and Connecticut enjoy large surpluses as a reward for a half-decade of cuts amid a sluggish economy.
The use of tax increases and budget cuts to close a $4 billion shortfall would be "unpleasant and likely unpopular" but would give New Jersey its first "honest" budget after a decade of spending plans bankrolled by debt and gimmicks, state Treasurer Bradley Abelow said yesterday.
Most of the nearly $2 billion in new taxes would come from raising the 6 percent sales tax to 7 percent, costing a family earning the $88,400 annual state average an estimated $4.08 a week - or $212 a year. The 7 percent would be one point higher than Pennsylvania's sales tax but match the rate in Philadelphia.
The budget carries great political risk. Jim Florio was the last governor to raise New Jersey's sales tax, to 7 percent in 1990. Voters threw him out of office three years later, and the increase was repealed in 1992.
Still, voters in a Quinnipiac University poll released last week said they preferred, 2-1, raising the sales tax rather than the income tax.
Corzine's budget also would extend the sales tax to such costs as limousine rides, private investigator services, and self-storage fees.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
people prefer raising ths sales tax, because they can get around that by shopping online.
hopefully, Kean Jr will have the sense to come out against this.
That (shopping online) is a good idea, but wouldn't delivery fees add up to counter any savings of skirting the sales tax?
I'll have to work out the math. But if there are substantial savings even with the delivery charges, it looks like ebay and Amazon will be seeing alot of business from me!
If cigarette taxes discourage smoking what behavior do higher income taxes discourage?
"The use of tax increases and budget cuts to close a $4 billion shortfall" in NJ
Tell us exactly the proposed cuts? How does this screwed up state wind up with a $4 bil. shortfall in the 1st place?
Glad I don't live in rip off corrupt NJ.......
no cuts, just reductions in planned large increases.
Tax and spend dem.......what a shocker.
Thanks for the reminder Oceanview....lest we be ignorant of the lib-speak terminology.
Haha. But it doesn't take an income tax increase to discourage people from working (if I took your meaning correctly :) ). Not here in NJ.
Time to start taxing SEX.
Maybe then we smokers won't feel so persecuted.
Trust a Democrat to raise taxes. Their socialist policies do it every time.
A large surplus in PA ? Oh yes, that must be because of the large tax increase we've enjoyed under Fast Eddie.
It's like "dieting" by only eating five times as much as you should rather than ten times.
Ahhh yes...you evil smokers must PAY PAY PAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
sorry that our self-righteous, political financial geniuses punish with taxes those who choose to smoke... we need to tax their lies and broken promises instead.
From a non-smoker who hates govt. targeting smokers...
Boo-Hoo
they dont like taxes being raised they should have voted for a Republican
Yep, which in turn hurts the local economy that much more, which in turn will have Corzine wanting to raise the taxes that much more ... lol ! Evil endless cycle when you have a typical tax raising Lib as Governor .
OK I have no love lost for Corzine. I live in NJ and I can tell you it's one "f"-ed up state. But what leads you to think he was "canned?"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.