With the Gov. Phil Murphy set to present his FY22 budget on Tuesday, NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka continues to bang the drum that the new budget must avoid any tax increases.
Siekerka told NJTV Business Correspondent Rhonda Schaffler on her NJ Business Beat program over the weekend that there is “nothing left to take” from businesses after continuing years of tax increases and a year of COVID-19 operating restrictions.
“Let’s remember when the economy was performing, we raised taxes,” Siekerka said. “When our economy is challenged, we’ve raised taxes. We don’t have a year when we don’t raise taxes.
“So every year we go into this cycle being concerned about the fear of revenue and taxes being raised.
“Revenue was projected to be negative 4.4% for this fiscal year. In fact, it’s performing at plus-4%. Which means we have an 8% swing in revenue to the benefit of New Jersey’s economy. So there’s no reason to raise taxes when we’re overperforming.”
Siekerka said New Jersey’s surplus funding should go into reinvesting in New Jersey business “at a time when it is critical for our economy.”
Among those recommended reinvestments, Siekerka said, is additional small business funding, infrastructure, supporting our innovation ecosystem and workforce development.
To see the full interview from NJ Business Beat, click here.
