As state lawmakers hammer out the final details of a state budget, a new proposal by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin has provoked pushback from Gov. Phil Murphy.
Under Coughlin’s plan, called Stay NJ, “Every senior, 65 or older, with regard to their primary residence, would be eligible to receive a 50% off their property taxes. It’s a straightforward simple plan,” said Coughlin (D-Middlesex). “When I talk to seniors, increasingly they’re concerned about their future. They’re concerned because their property taxes are putting a real drain on their ability to stay here in New Jersey, hence the name Stay NJ,” he said.
“A couple of things about that are concerning. The biggest one is that it would add an additional $1.7 billion to our annual budget and we’ve got revenues that are softening already, which we expected and that’s why we proposed a budget with a massive surplus, but that’s an annual freight that would blow up all the progress that we’ve made with the ratings agencies … the other part is that everybody’s eligible so even I would get a $10,000 break,” Murphy said.
Coughlin says it’s more like $1.2 billion. Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) issued a statement of support but Murphy remains steadfast enough that — with weeks to go before the state budget has to be passed — administration sources say they’re preparing contingencies for a government shutdown in the event of an impasse.
