New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said residents can expect “significant tax cuts” even after the state passed a $2 billion property tax rebate program last year.
“We delivered, I think at this point, 14 or 15 tax cuts already for the middle class, for seniors, for families, and we’re not going to relent,” Murphy said Thursday in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power With David Westin.” “We are looking at other tax cuts.”
The second-term governor, a 65-year-old Democrat and retired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. senior director, came to office in January 2018 with promises to revive New Jersey’s economy and provide relief for residents who pay the highest property taxes in the US.
Last year Murphy and the Democratic-led legislature approved a program that provides tax relief checks for homeowners and renters. Called Anchor, it replaces the Homestead Rebate program, which had shrunk over several years due to budget constraints, and vastly expanded the pool of those eligible.
In the interview, Murphy also expressed optimism on the progress of Gateway, the multibillion dollar program for a new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey. He said the project has just received a $292 million federal grant.
“We hope and believe that’s the first grant of many more to come so we can at last build these new tunnels and help the old ones,” Murphy said.
During his annual policy address earlier this week, Murphy proposed incentives to keep more workers in the state, an effort to cut down the out-of-state income tax on workers who commute to New York. More than 430,000 New Jersey residents paid taxes in New York in 2020, according to the latest tax data available.
“We’re not thrilled with that tax dislocation,” Murphy said. “And that takes it out of the state’s coffers, and that’s something we’re fighting for.”
--With assistance from Elise Young and Donna Borak.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
