Poll finds NJ residents sharply divided on corporate taxes, aid to school districts

New Jerseyans are sharply divided on whether corporations should keep paying a tax surcharge that’s been in effect since 2018, and whether the state fairly doles out money to school districts, the Rutgers-Eagleton Institute of Politics finds in a new poll.

Both are key issues in Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. But more than half of respondents, or 53%, said they hadn’t heard anything at all about the budget. Another 23% said they’d heard very little.

Murphy, a Democrat, would let the 2.5% corporate business tax surcharge expire under a deal he worked out with lawmakers several months ago. That’s despite heavy opposition from progressive activists and some Democratic lawmakers, who say the state needs the money to fund key programs and provide more tax relief to residents. Nicole Rodriguez, president of the New Jersey Policy Perspective, described it as a “massive tax cut to the most profitable corporations in the world,” after Murphy introduced his budget proposal in February.

According to the poll, 58% of Democrats and 59% of independents would keep the tax surcharge. But 61% of Republicans agreed with letting it expire.

“Just because Murphy is the one leading the charge on this expiration of the tax, it doesn't mean Democrats necessarily have to go with him,” said Eagleton's Director Ashley Koning.

Overall, 41% say they'd like to let the surcharge expire, versus 50% who say it should be extended.

About half of poll participants also said New Jersey should distribute school aid evenly to districts throughout the state.

Murphy’s budget would expand state funding of K-12 public schools overall, raising the coming fiscal year’s contribution by $830 million for a total of $11 billion in school funding. But under a complex formula that aims to support districts most in need, some individual districts would still see their aid decrease. In April, Murphy signed a bill to provide another $100 million to districts slated to see decreases, potentially making back about two-thirds of the difference.

The upshot: Many districts will receive less aid, requiring cuts to services and staff, increased local property taxes or both, even though the state is allocating more money overall. Koning said that doesn’t sit well with taxpayers.

“New Jerseyans don't want things being taken away from them,” she said. “They already feel heavily taxed. They already feel like they pay for enough."

Poll participants’ opinions on school funding didn’t change much when alternate versions of the question were asked, including whether more state aid should go to “lower-income” or “lower-property-tax” communities. In all cases, less than half of residents supported distributing funding unevenly throughout the state.

“New Jerseyans just don't want to see more taken out of their pockets, whether we're talking about directly or indirectly through school funding,” Koning said.

Murphy is still in negotiations with the Legislature over the $53.1 billion budget. Ultimately, it’s up to the Legislature to adopt a spending plan, though the governor has a line-item veto that gives him significant discretion.

Even with their concerns over education spending, poll respondents gave Murphy fairly high marks on education overall. More than a third give the governor an A or B on education. About 4 in 10 give the same high grades to the state government.

And despite their concerns about how the state spends its money, about a third gave Murphy an A or a B on the economy and jobs. About 4 in 10 rated the state government with As or Bs there, as well.

“Maybe the economy can be good in New Jersey, the job market can be good, but you know, they still may be paying heavy taxes and they still may think the cost of living is too high,” Koning said.

Murphy’s job approval has been declining. In the poll, 47% said they approve of the job he is doing as governor, down 7 points from the fall of 2022. Among respondents, 43% disapprove, up 6 points. The governor saw his best approval ratings at the start of the COVID-19 crisis, but now the figures are coming back down to Earth, Koning said. They're at the lowest point since the start of the pandemic, but around average for Murphy's governorship until then, she said.

She contrasted Murphy’s job approval performance with that of his predecessor, Chris Christie. The Republican left office with a 19% approval and 74% disapproval — a stunning decline from the near 80% approvals he enjoyed during and after superstorm Sandy — according to Eagleton’s polling.

The results are from a statewide poll of 1,002 adults contacted on landlines and cell phones from April 27 to May 5.