New Jersey residents and business owners are bracing for an imminent new tax on something they are powerless to control.
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy is poised to sign a new bill approved by the New Jersey Senate and Assembly that will be taxing…the rain.
The new legislation, inspired by former President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency, allows the state’s 565 municipalities to set up their own public stormwater utilities which would build and manage sewer systems, according to WLNY-TV.
The utilities will be allowed to tax properties which create large amounts of rainwater run-off, such as long driveways and parking lots, because of the cost of filtering the pollutants in the water.
“Every time you think there’s nothing left to tax, we come up with something else,” Republican Assemblyman Hal Wirths complained during debate on the bill which passed at the end of last month. “It’s just never-ending down here.”
Senate President Steve Sweeney justified the legislation, pointing to other states which use storm water utilities to collect and filter the run-off from rain.
“With all the salt that we’ve had on roads recently, that’s all running into the sewer systems. So you can’t ignore problems because they don’t go away,” the Democrat told WLNY.
Former governor and current state Sen. Richard Codey called the tax “a small cost to live safely.”
“A lot of our economy is based on, obviously, the shore. We gotta make sure we keep it that way,” the Democratic lawmaker said.
According to the New York Post:
The idea for the new fee goes back to 2010, when President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency ordered states whose rivers and streams flow into the Chesapeake Bay to drastically cut sediment pollution.
Maryland was the first to fall into line, with a 2012 law that charged cleanup costs to property owners — and sparked taxpayer fury. Republican Larry Hogan’s promise to repeal the “rain tax” helped sweep him into the governor’s mansion in 2014.
Creating the utilities could cost New Jersey billions in infrastructure, according to lawmakers, and the state could be collecting 5 percent of the proceeds, the New York Post reported.
Phil Murphy wants to tax the rain in New Jersey? Ask liberal Martin O’Malley, former Governor of Maryland, how well the Rain Tax turned out there. https://t.co/uVAxrvPRdM
— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) February 10, 2019
“They are crazy,” Ramon Columna, a resident of Elizabeth, told WLNY. “As it is, there are too much taxes in New Jersey. Why would we want more taxes especially on cement?”
“Our homeowner’s taxes are as high as they can possibly be. They shouldn’t go any higher. It’s not fair,” resident Leslie Cedillo said.
Sen. Tom Kean Jr. agrees with other Republicans who have dubbed the bill the “Rain Tax.”
“We all want to protect our environment. We all want to preserve it for future generations,” the GOP lawmaker said. “But this is a weighted tax. The citizens of New Jersey…really with no oversight and no way to defend themselves against tax increases at local levels.”
The legislation, which is expected to be signed by Murphy, was universally slammed on Twitter.
The insane asylum known as #NewJersey is now charging people because it rains. You cannot make this stop up. #raintaxhttps://t.co/vPwpxZaqJk
— Luis R. Miranda (@LuisRealAgenda) February 5, 2019
A Rain Tax?! As if New Jersey doesn’t soak taxpayers enough! https://t.co/T4evbA5KDk
— ATR (@taxreformer) February 11, 2019
Next will be taxing the air you breath in and a separate tax for breathing out.
— Jimmy (@Jimmydorag) February 11, 2019
Let him do it. New Jersey voters haven’t reached rock bottom yet. After the rain tax, watch the gov pass the same baby killing laws New York just did. Then maybe, just maybe New Jersey will wake up.
— Marion Frank❌ (@MarionFr4) February 11, 2019
Since the sun is what warms the earth, we should expect @AOC to introduce a sun tax soon to prevent global warming.
— Fiona Valentine (@realFionaV) February 10, 2019
A rain tax NJ, really……… ?♂️
— Matt sled (@Msledski7) February 7, 2019
You can’t tax the rain.
New Jersey: “Hold my beer.” https://t.co/y8fgNZtapY
— Thomas D. Boley, Esq (@tboleyesq) February 9, 2019
YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!!! What in the #Heck is going on w/some of these NUT JOBS WE HAVE IN OFFICE? GET SOME NEW PEOPLE IN!
— @thewiselady2 (@thewiselady22) February 11, 2019
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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