NJ-05 rivals for the Republican congressional nomination John McCann and Steve Lonegan are gearing up for a tough primary season, Save Jerseyans, but the opposing candidates agree on quite a few things.
Notably? That Governor-elect Phil Murphy and freshman NJ-05 Democrat Congressman Josh Gottheimer’s push for New Jerseyans to deduct property taxes as charitable contributions is not only dumb BUT little more than a cop out to avoid tackling our state’s massive property tax burden.
“When people are lining up to prepay their taxes early, there’s clearly a problem,” said McCann on Friday evening after the Gottheimer-Murphy press conference. “Josh Gottheimer failed to stop the unfair reduction in the SALT deduction that singles out overburdened property taxpayers in areas like the 5th Congressional District and, now, instead of fixing the underlying problem of high property taxes, the Gottheimer-Murphy plan continues to pass the buck. I was the first person to propose a property tax cap for the State of New Jersey and, as a Member of Congress, I will work tirelessly to both deliver our fair share from Washington and develop real solutions to our local property tax crisis.”
“The Murphy-Gottheimer plan does nothing to address the high cost of local government in New Jersey — made higher by regulations and mandates imposed under the last two Democrat governors,” said Lonegan in a statement of his own. “Their answer is the same as it always is: Give more money to government in the hope that you will get something back for it. As with the state income tax, which was sold as property tax relief but then snatched away to be used for social engineering, it is a hope that is ever forlorn.”
The incoming Murphy Administration has yet to introduce a plan to address New Jersey’s highest-in-the-nation property tax burden.
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