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BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
UPDATED
Households with annual incomes of $75,000 or less will receive rebate checks this year and households with incomes up to $250,000 will be able to deduct $5,000 to $10,000 in property taxes from their state income tax under a revised 2009-10 state budget approved Monday by Senate and Assembly budget committees.
It took nearly all day to bring the now $29 billion budget to a vote but when it happened by early evening, Democrats on the Senate Budget and Appropriations and the Assembly Budget Committee approved the fiscal package and Republicans opposed it.
The Democrats and Gov. Jon Corzine were able to restore the rebates the financially-strapped administration initially cut as it formed the budget after a tax amnesty program brought an unexpected windfall of at least $625 million with more money expected to come in.
The appropriations bill, S-2010/A-4100, now includes $404 million in tax rebates. A companion bill, S-2015, provides an additional $60 million in relief by allowing taxpayers from households with incomes up to $150,000 to deduct up to $10,000 in property taxes from their income taxes. Households with incomes over $150,000 and up to $250,000 would be allowed up to a $5,000 deduction. Under these terms, the property tax deduction would be available to 94 percent of households.The budget also provides rebates for seniors and disabled with annual incomes of $50,000 or less.
The budget bill also includes $4 billion in cuts.
The budget is expected to gain a final vote of approval Thursday in the Democratic-controlled Senate and Assembly.
"The announcement last week that the tax amnesty program has been even more successful than we had hoped has enabled us to significantly increase the amount of property tax relief we can provide to the hardworking people of New Jersey," said Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex), chairwoman of the Senate budget panel. "The additional revenue the program has brought in is being targeted to provide the most property tax relief to the people who are most in need. This is an extraordinary accomplishment given the economic landscape in New Jersey and across the country."
Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden), the lower house budget committee chairman, said following the vote, "What a difference a week makes. The budget we released today is revised and improved, yet still maintains the core spending reductions we have reviewed throughout the past three months. We've always said that we would provide as much property tax relief as possible, and this revised budget allows us to honor that Democratic commitment to put property taxpayers first."
The Senate committee approved the budget bill 8-6. The Assembly panel voted 8-4.
