NJ Spotlight published the following article on February 26, 2014. To read the full article, click here.
ANALYSIS: CHRISTIE OFFERS NO TAX CUT, BUT $205 MILLION IN VEILED TAX HIKES
MARK J. MAGYAR | FEBRUARY 26, 2014
Somberly warning that New Jersey would have to renegotiate its public employee pension obligations to fund vital services, Gov. Chris Christie yesterday unveiled a record $34.4 billion state budget that made the promised pension payment, left out an expected tax cut, and surprisingly included $205 million in tax increases that were defended as “closing tax loopholes to level the playing field.”
The tax changes, which included the extension of the state’s 7 percent sales tax to Internet sales by out-of-state retailers, did not quite square with the opening assertion of Christie’s Budget Address yesterday that he was presenting a budget that, “for the fifth year in a row, requires no new taxes on the people of New Jersey.”
Nor did Christie’s decision to once again use $324 million in New Jersey Turnpike toll money to balance his budget, forcing him to borrow more money for the Transportation Trust Fund again, square with Christie’s complaint that the rising cost of debt service — along with pensions and retiree health benefits — was eating up 94 percent of the funding available for new programs this year.