NJ gov wants 10 percent income tax cut; Dems wary

TRENTON, N.J. — In a move that seemed to surprise Democrats and Republicans, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday proposed an across-the-board 10 percent income tax cut to lure people back to the state with the nation's highest property taxes.

Democrats quickly pounced on the plan as a boon for millionaires and a boondoggle for schools and the middle class and working poor.

"This will send a loud signal to New Jerseyans and would-be New Jerseyans ... New Jersey is once again a place to plan your future, raise your family, grow your business and someday retire," the governor told a joint session of the Legislature.

The first-term Republican governor did not say in his third State of the State speech how he would pay for the income tax cut.

State Sen. President Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat, called the proposal a "B.S. tax cut" and a "windfall for millionaires at the expense of schools" but praised Christie's oratory prowess.

"It was a very good speech, but that's all it was — a speech," he said.

A family with a taxable income of $600,000 would save around $4,000 under the plan. A family with taxable income of $50,000 would save under $150.

In his address, Christie said that his fiscal discipline over the last two years has worked. He proclaimed "the New Jersey comeback has begun," repeating a familiar slogan of his administration.

The state has added private-sector jobs while keeping a lid on government costs, he said.

He listed his next priority as bolstering low-performing schools through measures he's long proposed, such as changing the tenure system and introducing merit pay for educators. His third priority for the year, he said, is to crack down on violence in cities through steps like overhauling the bail system to keep suspects who have histories of violence in custody as they await trial on new charges.

High-income families would get the biggest boost from his proposed tax cut. Families making more than $500,000 now pay just under 9 percent of their incomes in state taxes. Under Christie's plan, the highest rate would drop to just over 8 percent, meaning that the annual state income tax paid by a family with $600,000 in taxable income would drop from about $39,000 to around $35,000, according to an AP analysis.

A family making $50,000 would see its tax bill fall from about $1,270 to around $1,140.