Commissioner Sadeghi Opposes Gas Tax Increase

Ocean County News

In 2016, New Jersey’s gas tax stood at 14.5 cents per gallon – one of the nation’s lowest – a welcome anomaly in our otherwise punishing state tax code.

Within a year, a bipartisan gas tax increase raised the tax to over 37-cents per gallon, with an allowance for automatic increases baked into the law. We were told then that this increase – in exchange for the lowering of several other taxes – would sustain the state’s Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) for years to come.

We were sold a bill of goods.

Because on top of…

A new 15% fare hike for riders on NJ Transit trains and buses;

A three percent toll increase for drivers on the Parkway and Turnpike;

The largest annual increase in our property tax bills in the last six years;

And the Democrats breaking their promise not to raise taxes on businesses;

Now we are about to endure another increase in the state gas tax – pushing this regressive tax to over 50 cents per gallon by the end of this decade.

How much more pain can the working-class families, seniors, and small businesses in this state take?

Barring Governor Murphy coming to his senses, Trenton politicians will increase the gas tax by nearly 10-cents a gallon – and charge a fee on electric vehicles – over the next five years.

The move will increase taxes by roughly $2 billion dollars per year, putting our state’s gas tax on course to be one of the Top 5 highest gas taxes in the country.

My message to all the state legislators representing Ocean County in Trenton is simple: Enough! Do everything in your power to stop enabling these tax and spending policies!

Not only is it abusive to our residents but given the utter lack of investment in Ocean County’s critical infrastructure needs – like the widening of Route 9 – the people in our county shouldn’t be forced to pay one more penny in gas taxes to fund transportation and infrastructure improvements that largely don’t benefit us one bit.