NJ pressed to change funding priorities from business to schools and infrastructure

A day before Gov. Chris Christie delivers his budget address, some groups are expressing concerns about New Jersey tax breaks for corporations.

 

Since 2010, New Jersey has awarded more than $5 billion in corporate subsidies and tax incentives.

New Jersey is likely to suffer budget problems for years by awarding large tax subsidies to a small number of corporations, according to Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, a nonpartisan group that monitors state and local spending on economic development.

“Take great caution about the future budget turbulence and stress and enormous cost to vital public services that benefit all employers when you’re putting so many eggs in so few corporate baskets,” he said.

Jon Whiten, deputy director of New Jersey Policy Perspective, said the business tax subsidies must be a much smaller part of an economic development plan that prioritizes finding the jobs New Jersey residents need.

“These subsidies represent a ticking time bomb that are just waiting to blow up future budgets and make it more difficult for New Jersey to invest in the kinds of things that have proven to grow a state’s economy,” Whiten said.

Instead of giving tax breaks to businesses, New Jersey should focus more on infrastructure and education to spur jog growth, said leaders of New Jersey Policy Perspective and New Jersey Working Families.