Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, also a Democratic candidate for governor, weighed in on the state budget, indicating that eliminating the corporate business tax “is an absolute mistake.”
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Look, I think there are a couple things that are priorities as you look at this [state] budget. Tax relief for seniors is certainly a priority, so I think the concept of StayNJ is good, the issue is though is that there should be some means testing around that,” Fulop said in an interview at a fundraiser at Surf City.
” … The second thing I would say is the CBT, the business tax that they’re eliminating, is an absolute mistake. It’s really hard to argue that the budget is gonna be the best budget possible when you’re potentially giving a tax relief to businesses, large businesses, not small businesses, multi-billion dollar businesses is what I’m talking about, at the same time you have a billion dollar underfunded New Jersey Transit system. These are all structural issues from a pension standpoint.”
He also noted that he spoke at length about the importance of the CBT in an op-ed to The Star-Ledger last month and that this and the StayNJ plan should be addressed in conjunction with one another.
According to the state, the 2.5 percent surcharge will sunset and then there will be a nine percent corporate business tax.
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19), another potential Democratic candidate for governor, introduced the StayNJ legislation late last month and Gov. Phil Murphy (D) almost immediately came out against it, deeming it financially irresponsible, as Politico reported.
Under StayNJ, the state would provide a 50 percent credit on seniors’ property tax bills that would be capped at $10,000. Homeowners who are 65 years or older would be eligible for the tax credit on their principal residence and there is no income limit for eligibility.
Payments would be applied directly to tax bills, with benefits starting on January 1st, 2025.
The Assembly Aging and Senior Services Committee has already conducted a hearing on the bill and New Jersey Globe reported last week that Coughlin and Murphy are getting closer to a compromise on the bill.
