New Jersey Urged by Economists’ Group to Raise Taxes to Balance Budget

Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg
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New Jersey should increase taxes on wealthy residents and big corporations to balance its budget, a group of state college economics professors wrote in a joint letter to Governor Phil Murphy and legislative leaders.

Spending cuts would be counterproductive, and would have a more negative impact on residents than raising taxes, the group wrote. A tax-rate increase on those earning $250,000 or more would raise about $1.5 billion in new revenue each year, while extending a corporate tax surcharge of 2.5% to businesses with profits of $1 million or more would provide another $425 million, according to the group of more than 90, mostly professors from Rutgers University and other colleges in the state.