The nearly $56 billion FY25 state budget proposed by Gov. Phil Murphy contains a new excise fee that would be levied on trucks that use warehouses – a tax that will drive up the cost of a wide range of products for businesses and consumers.
The Murphy administration says the proposed $1 excise fee on trucks entering warehouse facilities would raise $10 million. The tax is being roundly criticized by NJBIA and other business groups for the economic impact it would have in New Jersey’s fast-growing warehousing and logistics industry, as well as the businesses and consumers who use the products that these trucks deliver.
“The proposed tax on trucks who pick up goods at warehouses is anti-consumer and anti-business,” NJBIA Deputy Chief of Government Affairs Ray Cantor said Wednesday. “It will not solve any problem and only makes our state less affordable. It sends a message to the business community that there is nothing this administration won’t tax.”
Dan Kennedy, CEO of the New Jersey chapter of the commercial real estate development association NAIOP, said the excise fee would amount to a “tax on everything.”
“The cost of this fee will be felt by all New Jerseyans, regardless of whether they shop online or in person,” Kennedy said. “Practically everything bought in New Jersey is first stored in a warehouse in New Jersey. This fee will force prices for food, prescription medication, baby formula, diapers, clothes, books, school supplies and more to climb even higher in our state.
“While a vocal minority of the Governor’s supporters oppose warehouses, the truth is that warehouses subsidize property taxes for millions of New Jersey homeowners,” he said. “Without the tax revenue towns receive from warehouses, most homeowners would likely be paying significantly more each year for property taxes.”
Eric DeGesero, representing the NJ Motor Truck Association and Fuel Merchants Association, also issued a statement criticizing the proposed excise tax on warehouse truck traffic.
“Everything we buy gets to the store or our front door via a truck, sometimes multiple trucks And, at some point, the things we buy wind up in a warehouse,” DeGesero said.
“The Governor is proposing a $1 fee on trucks that use warehouses. This one more fee that will be passed on to consumers. Why not a $1 fee on containers offloading at the port? How about a $1 check-out fee at the grocery store? In his speech, the governor discussed the cost of things like groceries. Higher tolls and higher fees are passed on to consumers and result in higher costs, like for groceries,” DeGesero said.
