Posted by Matt Rooney On September 30, 2016
No good news gets dumped on Friday, Save Jerseyans. It’s when politicians bury news they hope taxpayers will miss.
This one will be hard to miss if you drive.
A short time ago, Governor Chris Christie announced a deal to raise New Jersey’s gas tax by 23-cents.
This is the first gas tax hike for New Jersey motorists since 1988 (when your Blogger-in-Chief was four years old).
Here are the broad strokes:
- The state sales tax will be cut from 7% to 6.875% effective January 2017, then to 6.625% in January 2018.
- The estate tax will be phased out effective January of 2018.
- Revenue? The eight-year deal is projected to generate $2 billion annually, or $16 billion for the full duration, in addition to $32 billion in federal matching funds.
Using tragedy as an excuse?
A few folks in Trenton see this for what it is.
“Residents, drivers and commuters rallied against this $2 billion gas tax plan the first time it was proposed in June,” said State Senator Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth), a long-time critic of a hike. “Offering a recycled plan that tinkers around the edges doesn’t change the fact that the public massively opposes a 23 cent per gallon gas tax hike. I will continue to stand up and fight for the vast majority of the people of New Jersey who oppose this tax increase.”
“When Jim McGreevey wanted to impose an envy-tax (the fraudulently named “millionaires’ tax”) he promised that every dime raised would go to property tax rebates. Stupidly, a bunch of gullible Republicans voted for this destructive tax,” Asm. Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris) added via Facebook. “The rebates didn’t even last as long as McGreevey. Now, we get the promise that the Estate tax will be eliminated in return for an increase in the gas tax. ”
“I have a six pack which says that one of the first things the Dems do, if they elect the next governor, is to un-eliminate that tax.”
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