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11.01.15

ELECTION 2015

WHY

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All 80 seats for the state Assembly are at stake, but a

record-low turnout is expected for Tuesdays elections.

YOU CANT AFFORD

TO LIVE IN N.J.

Residents
outraged,
but likely
wont vote
Record-low turnout
expected on Tuesday
BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP

Notwithstanding all their angst over property taxes,

their had-it-up-to-here over wasteful spending and
stalemated, unresponsive Trenton politics, fed up New
Jersey voters are expected to produce a record-low
turnout in Tuesdays election.
All 80 seats for the state Assembly are at stake to go
with county and municipal contests. The absence of attention-getting federal and statewide races underscore
why New Jersey watchers predict scant voter participation, even one of the lowest turnouts in years. But it
isnt just the underwhelming, off-year vote.
Recent revelations of squandered public money and
other scandals including the suspension of a judge
whose combined salary for working in nine Monmouth
County municipalities is $322,674 are also turning off
voters, said Ben Dworkin, the director of the Rebovich
Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.
Studies have shown that there is a high rate of public cynicism about politicians and politics, Dworkin
said. Even in a higher-turnout presidential election,
youll have folks who feel they simply wont make a difference and cant be motivated to come out and vote.
As taxpayers complain about New Jerseys highestin-the nation property taxes, public officials defend the
spending as necessary to support high-quality schools
and public services, from trash collection to social programs. But the profligate spending also fuels an untold
amount of government waste and largesse for insiders.
See ELECTION, Page 8A

Tax burden second-highest percentage in U.S.

MICHAEL SYMONS @MICHAELSYMONS_

New Jerseyans average overall tax bill is the second-highest in the United States,
measured as a percentage of income, according to a nationwide survey and analysis. The
primary culprit wont surprise readers of the Asbury Park Press: Its the property tax.
Income taxes, primarily at the levels paid by the rich, and business taxes rank in the
top-10 nationally, according to Tax Foundation numbers. Taxes related to consumption,
such as the sales tax, rank in the middle. New Jerseys gas tax at least for now is one
of the nations lowest. But its the property tax that pushes New Jerseys state and local
tax burden to the second-highest percentage in the nation, See TAXES, Page 6A

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PROPERTY TAX

INCOME TAX

SALES TAX

BUSINESS TAX

New Jersey had the

nations highest average
effective property tax
rate in 2013, 2.38 percent, more than quadruple the U.S. average.

Only five states charge a

higher marginal, or top,
income tax rate than
New Jerseys 8.97 percent. That helped New
Jersey rank seventhhighest in 2013.

New Jerseys sales tax

rate of 7 percent ties
four other states for the
nations second-highest
rate. But New Jersey
exempts more items
from the sales tax than
other states do.

New Jerseys business

climate was ranked last
in the nation in 2015. In
terms of collections,
New Jerseys state corporate income tax
collections ranked seventh nationally at $257
per capita in 2013.

Did you
remember?
Set your clocks
back an hour
today.

Russian airliner crash in Egypt kills 224. PAGE 1B

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