Don’t tax you. Don’t tax me. Tax that fellow behind the tree!” said Russell B. Long, Democratic Senator from Louisiana from 1948 to 1987. As Washington gets set to raise taxes on “The 2 Percent,” a large number of Mercer County residents will take a hit. According to 2011 Census Department data, 14.5 percent of Mercer County households have incomes exceeding $200,000. While I understand that the country must gain control over the deficit, I urge consideration for a meaningful reduction in our spending and the pursuit of policies that encourage new business formation.
But even as federal tax rates are about to climb, the Democrats in the state house want to hike the top New Jersey income tax rate to 10.75 percent. New Jersey already taxes its affluent citizens at a higher rate than any other state except New York. Only Connecticut has a higher property tax. Only New York and California have a higher individual income tax burden. Only four states have a higher sales tax.
Even closer to home, this fiscal year the Mercer County property tax rate increased more than 10 percent!
There seems to be no regard that the individual taxpayer and small business person are being squeezed from top to bottom. Our state is in danger of falling into the same downward spiral into which California, Illinois, and the high-tax countries of Europe currently find themselves.
No country or state ever has taxed its way to prosperity. It’s time that government — at all levels — adopt sound fiscal practices familiar to any household: Balance your budget and cut spending to live within your means!
Jim Solloway
West Windsor
