Average Household Would Save Hundreds
TRENTON – Senate President Steve Sweeney today unveiled a bold, new plan that, when fully phased in, would provide middle-class families up to eleven times more tax relief than the scheme proposed by the governor.
When fully phased-in, the Sweeney alternative would allow middle-class homeowners to take 10 percent of their property taxes as a direct income tax credit; renters would see their income tax write-off quadruple to $200.
“Our plan is based on a simple truth: The middle class – who continue to get squeezed under this governor’s policies – deserve a real break in the amount of taxes they pay,” said Sweeney. “Our plan would do just that, saving middle class families 10 percent on their property taxes. This plan for real middle-class tax relief offers a clear and undeniable contrast between our priorities and those of Governor Christie. Millionaires have already gotten their tax break from him. It’s time the middle class got theirs.”
Under the Senate President’s plan, a family earning $50,000 a year would save, on average $600, and a family earning $100,000 a year would save an average of $800; millionaires would get absolutely zero. Under the governor’s proposed income tax scheme, a family earning $50,000 a year would only save $80.50, and a family earning $100,000 annually would only save $275, while a millionaire would get a $7,265.75 tax break and those earning $3 million would save $25,200 a year.
The Sweeney plan would focus every dollar of tax relief on the 95 percent of New Jersey households that earn up to $250,000. The Christie scheme, by comparison, would give those families only an average of $218 in relief, while the top 5 percent would get an average of $4,632 and the top 0.6% would get an average of $22,577.
In addition to providing greater benefits to the middle class, the Sweeney plan would deliver benefits sooner and produce greater savings each year during the four-year phase-in. More than 1.7 million taxpayers would be eligible for the credit. For residents who pay rent instead of property taxes, the existing $50 property tax credit would be increased to $200.
The existing $10,000 maximum property tax deduction would still be available to all New Jersey homeowners.
The Sweeney plan would cost the same as the governor’s, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services.
“New Jersey’s middle class deserves to keep more of its hard-earned money, and this plan will let them do just that,” said Sweeney. “This is real, sustainable tax relief for the families who need it most.”