More NJ Finger Pointing About High Taxes

By
Sarah Kate Kramer
It's A Free Country | Mar 14, 2011

The average tax bill for property owners in New Jersey went up $7,576 - or 4.1 percent - in 2010, despite Gov. Chris Christie promise to lower local taxes. 

His bad? "Absolutely not," said Christie at a press conference on Wednesday. Christie blames it entirely on his predecessor, Jon Corzine. 

Christie's two percent cap on property taxes went into effect on the first day of this year. "Now its on my watch," Christie told reporters. The governor claims Corzine's four percent cap didn't work and is to blame for the rise.

But Democrats in the state legislature are claiming that taxes went up because of Christie's cuts to school and municipal state aid. They say localities are now being forced to pay for those services in higher taxes.

Christie also reiterated his strategic ultimatum to the legislature: unless they approve 100 percent of his entire financial plan, they will have to take some of the blame if it doesn't work. 

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Sarah Kate Kramer

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