Tax Hike, Property Tax Aid Get Green Light In NJ Budget Vote: Report

NEW JERSEY - Garden State lawmakers introduced and started approving Wednesday night the $56.6 billion budget which includes a tax hike for the state’s biggest companies, public school funding, property tax relief and more, according to an NJ.com report.

The record budget will determine how New Jersey’s taxpayer money is spent in the fiscal year starting Monday.

The business tax hike, dubbed the “corporate transit fee,” will impose a 2.5 percent surtax on roughly 600 New Jersey companies that make at least $10 million. The tax will fund NJ Transit, which reported a $106.6 million budget gap earlier this year despite a $44 million in cost reductions by offsetting "mandatory, non-discretionary cost escalations.” Read more: Tax Increase Deal Struck Between Murphy, Top Lawmakers

Garden State lawmakers also added $700 million in new “Christmas tree” spending to Murphy’s initial budget proposal, NJ.com reported. Some of the most expensive include $12.5 million for a learning annex in Wood-Ridge and $10 million for capital improvements at Fairview public schools.

Both committees in both houses of the Legislature approved the budget and business tax along party lines Wednesday night, the outlet reported. The full Legislature is set to pass the budget Friday, awaiting Murphy’s signature.

As it stands, the FY2025 budget (A4700) includes:

• A nearly $7 billion investment in the public-worker pension fund
• $12 billion to the state school funding formula
• A $6.2 billion surplus fund
• $2 billion for the ANCHOR tax relief program
• An additional $220 million for the Stay NJ senior property tax cut
• $20 million allocated to community colleges