New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, and state lawmakers recently voted on a bill to increase the tax on gas. The tax would force people to pay 23 cents per gallon more than the current 14.5 cents.
Spending 23 cents per gallon at the gas pump may not seem like a lot of money, but it adds up over time. Since passed, this bill has been very controversial and a large majority of NJ residents aren’t happy about the tax.
The intention of the tax is to fund NJ road, bridge and transit work. The secondary purpose of the tax to is to establish a two billion dollar trust fund for New Jersey Transportation for the duration of eight years. It will also cut sales and estate tax as well as helping veterans and low income housing tax credits. (A tax credit is an amount of money that can be offset against a tax liability).
It’s clear that most New Jersey residents did not want the bill to pass. Some people have even created and signed a petition against the bill; however, the petition wasn’t enough to stop lawmakers from voting for it.
Priscilla Savage of Trenton Government & Legislative affairs stated, “Drivers will definitely see an increase at the pump. New Jersey previously had one of the lowest gas taxes in the nation and now it will be at a national average. The purpose of the increase is to gradually eliminate the estate tax and to benefit the transportation fund. As a result, we will see better roads and less retirees moving out of state.” Savage also commented, “I can see how the tax increase can benefit the state overall but as a struggling college student, financially I am not looking forward to seeing my essential expenses increase.”
While the increase does have long term benefits, the tax can really be an inconvenience to the bank accounts of people who commute to work or school.
Colonia High School Senior Paige Walker commutes to and from school every week and stated, “I feel that we should not have raised the tax because I don’t believe the transportation fund should be a major priority for New Jersey right now. I am also commuting every day and when I need to fill up my gas tank I normally put in $20.00 but now with the gas tax I will have to pay more and it’s an annoying inconvenience to me.”
Since the bill is passed the tax will be implemented on November 1st at the latest. Although the gas prices have gone down significantly in the past few months get ready to pay more again at the gas pump soon.
