Group Criticizes New Jersey's Corporate Tax Breaks

TRENTON, NJ-In the more than three years in office, the administration of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has awarded $2.1 billion in corporate tax breaks and grants, according to a report released today by think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective.

The report cites a significant increase in corporate tax breaks, noting that the Christie administration has handed out five times more subsidies that previous administrations did the prior decade. The state awarded an average $52.9 million each month from 2010 through 2012, compared with $10.4 million a month during the 2000-09 decade and $3.9 million a month in the 1990s, the report says.

The report questions the value of the subsidies. “Despite the aggressive use of subsidies, New Jersey's post-recession job growth lags behind the recovery experienced by the nation and neighboring states,” the report says.

Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for Gov. Christie, tells The Record that New Jersey Policy Perspective is a “notoriously biased … outfit.” Other critics suggested the the issue is more complicated than the study suggests.  See story at njbiz.com.

“Let's take objective note of the record job growth during this administration concurrent to expansion of our incentive and job-retention programs,” Drewniak says. See story in The Record.