New Jersey Tax Revenue Figures Come Up Short--Very Short
By David Madden
NEW JERSEY (CBS) -- Recently released tax revenue figures in New Jersey are giving leaders second thoughts about all the economic recovery talk in the state.
Governor Chris Christie's economic people projected almost 5% growth by now, but revenue collections through April show annual growth at about half that rate. In fact, former state treasurer David Rousseau--now an analyst with New Jersey Policy Perspective--was taken aback by some of the numbers.
"I was surprised that the actual collections for the income tax and the corporate tax were not just below projections, but below the previous year's actual collection," Rousseau says.
Bottom line: there's now a $230 million shortfall, and that number is expected to grow. How high depends on who you talk to. Budget analysts for the administration and legislature are to appear this week at a pair of public hearings to discuss how to deal with all this. But Rousseau is joining a growing list of people who are suggesting that everyone put talk of a tax cut--included in the Governor's proposed $32 billion budget--on hold.
