Because of the recent national financial meltdown, all levels of government in New Jersey are strapped for cash, but not more so than the individual Garden State taxpayers who are picking up the tab for the last two decades of reckless spending increases.
Over the years, we have always had one of the highest real estate taxes in the nation. But did you know that, according to The Tax Foundation, New Jersey – at 7.1% – now has the highest real estate tax burden in the country when measured as a share of income. Nebraska, only tenth down the list, is half that number, at 3.6%. That gives you an idea of how confiscatory property taxes on owner-occupied homes have become in New Jersey.
No matter how the numbers are sliced and diced, we are a taxing and spending champion: NJ property taxes are the highest per capita in the nation. The sales tax is the country’s second highest, and the cigarette tax is the highest. Furthermore, New Jersey’s total state and local tax burden is also the highest in the nation at 11.8% of income, way over the national average of 9.7%.
Even businesses are getting whacked: For 2008, The Tax Foundation ranks NJ at the bottom of the pack, number 49, in its measurement of attractiveness as a state in which to do business.
No comments:
Post a Comment