(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said $500 payments for the middle class, funded by the millionaire's tax, will ease the sting of property taxes that averaged $8,953 last year.
In an appearance on Fox5's “Good Day New York,” Murphy dismissed the suggestion that the tax on incomes above $1 million -- rising to 10.75% from 8.97% -- will drive the wealthy to low-cost states such as Florida, as Republican critics have said. The roughly $390 million that he expects to raise will fund the payments to households with at least one child and income of less than $150,000.
The highest-in-the-nation property tax “is really the thing” that drives out residents, particularly retirees, Murphy said. About 800,000 families will receive “hard cash next summer” to relieve the burden, he said.
The Democratic governor, a retired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. senior director who unsuccessfully sought a millionaire's tax twice before, on Thursday announced an agreement with legislative leaders to raise the top rate to match that imposed on incomes above $5 million.
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