New Jersey Senate and House leaders have expressed their position that there will be no state level increases next year.
At a public policy forum hosted by the New Jersey Business Association (NJBIA) in November 2022, Assembly Speaker Greg Coughlin predicted that “a tax increase will be avoided in 2023.”
The leadership of the state legislature, who attended the forum, expressed this position, saying that internal discussions on the budget for the next fiscal year are already underway.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Salo was more explicit about tax hike concerns. “There have been no tax and fee increase in the state budget this year,” Salo said. I don’t think there will be any tax hikes at the legislative level next year,” he said.
The details of the state budget for the next fiscal year will be announced by Governor Phil Murphy around February of next year, but so far, the leadership of the state legislature has said that there is no special tax increase in the process of prior discussion.
The current fiscal year’s state budget totals $50.6 billion, the largest in New Jersey’s history. In addition, government spending is expected to increase due to fears of a recession.
However, the leadership of the state legislature has expressed its will not raise taxes next year for residents who are facing financial burdens due to inflation. However, even if there is no tax increase at the state level, residents still cannot shake off concerns about a property tax hike set by each town government.
There are concerns about property tax hikes as labor costs and health insurance benefits for county and town government officials are rapidly increasing. New Jersey’s 2021 average property tax is $9,286, the highest in the nation.
In addition, as unemployment benefits payments to the unemployed surged due to the COVID-19 crisis, the employment insurance fund was depleted, raising concerns for companies about a sharp increase in employment insurance contributions required by the state government.