States are having tax troubles, and New Jersey is one of those. The Tax Foundation has a great story about how a South Carolina company was forced to pay off New Jersey in order to get a truck released from a weigh station from a “jeopardy assessment.” States are trying to make anything appear as if it creates nexus.
Meanwhile, New Jersey has budget problems. Big problems. As the Wall Street Journal reports, “In 1990 the state was $3 billion in debt. Borrowing has since grown at a compound annual rate of about 13%, and now the state is $32 billion in the red. Throw in unfunded pensions and health benefits for retirees, and that number swells to $113 billion, or $3,400 for every man, woman and child in the state. That’s three times per capita higher than the national average, making New Jersey the nation’s fourth-most indebted state.”
Governor Jon Corzine (D) proposes huge toll increases (50% a year in 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022) but legislators aren’t thrilled with the idea. Perhaps the idea of limited government might take hold in the swamplands. Where are the Sopranos when you need them?