Letter: Jersey tax shows our future
In 1975, the New Jersey Public School Education Act, Chapter 212, created a new state funding formula for public schools.
In 1976, the first New Jersey state income tax was then enacted to help pay for schools.
In 1990, a $2.8 billion state tax increase to pay for the new law was introduced.
The court gave the state until 1997 to fully comply.
Is this starting to sound familiar?
New Jersey has continually gone back to demand the state’s lawmakers provide additional funding to equalize funding or guarantee needed supplemental programs between urban and suburban school districts.
An unprecedented series of entitlements and supplemental programs, including preschool and a program to renovate or replace urban school facilities, was demanded.
Each of these request was to the tune of billions of additional dollars.
The state’s income tax rate is at 1.4 percent to 8.97 percent.
The state sales tax is at 6.86 percent, for a total of almost 16 percent for the highest tax bracket. Let’s not forget federal and property taxes.
I see the invisible hand of the Washington state government reaching into our wallets pushing for a state income tax in the near future.
Evan Meacham, Kennewick
This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Letter: Jersey tax shows our future."