The worst political decisions always get announced on a Friday, Save Jerseyans, and the worst of the worst drop on Fridays in the summer.
This past Friday, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development quitely posted a notice for New Jersey employers announcing changes to current contribution rates which it’s believed will be effective October 1st (not July 1st as is the usual custom). The rate changes amount to a $250 million unemployment insurance payroll tax increase for Garden State businesses in addition to many nonprofits organizations and local governments.
–
Here’s the “notice,” if you can really call it that:
The “Notice of Employer Contribution Rates” for fiscal year 2021-2022 is now available for download via Employer Access. It will be sent by mail to some employers on August 19, 2021.
If you haven’t already, register for Employer Access and we will send you an email as soon as your notice is available for download.
Please note we are using Tax Table C for 2021-2022.
Unsurprisingly, N.J. business groups haven’t said much. The Democrat legislature is quiet, too.
Only a handful of Republicans are speaking out.
“New Jersey has a 7.3 percent unemployment rate, and this unnecessary tax increase on employers will kill more jobs. This was avoidable by using federal funds from the American Recovery Plan,” said State Senate Steve Oroho (R-24). “We should have used COVID relief money that the state already has in its possession instead of adding burdens to job creators. Even while he is vacationing in Italy, the Governor is showing no respect for the employers crushed by his excessing closures.”
“As the Assembly Republican Budget Officer, I have been pleading with the Murphy Administration and Democrat Legislative Leaders to follow the example of many other responsible States and use some of the COVID relief fund to avoid this devastating tax hike – I wrote the bill to do just that (A5828). Obviously, they don’t care about the plight of small business owners throughout New Jersey, and it is outrageous to put this burden on their backs,” added Assemblyman Hal Wirths (R-24), Oroho’s running mate and commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor during the Christie Administration. ” In fact, not only will this tax hike effect business owners, but it will cost property taxpayers more as well since local governments will have to pay more. Friday the 13th indeed turned out to be a scary day for businesses and taxpayers in New Jersey!”