Poll: New Jerseyans support reinstituting the corporate tax surchage to fund transit

To ensure funding for New Jersey Transit, a majority of New Jerseyans (54%) largely support reinstating the corporate business tax surcharge but oppose a tax on New Yorkers coming into the Garden State, a new Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll finds.

But a proposal to tax New Yorkers driving into New Jersey intended as a retaliatory measure to combat New York’s congestion tax received mixed reviews, with 43% supporting it and 45% in opposition.

“People who are going to be paying $20 a day for congestion pricing want the state to do something about it,” said poll director Dan Cassino, a professor of Government and Politics at FDU. “But if you’re in Cherry Hill, New York tolls don’t seem quite as important.”

Legislators allowed the temporary, three-year-old 2.5% surcharge to sunset this year.

“The fact that this is a restored tax, rather than a new one, helps with support,” Cassino explained.  “Democrats also tend to favor taxes on corporations, and giving the money to NJ Transit is just the icing on the cake.”

These issues have become an increasingly important political issue – not just for this year’s legislative elections, but for the 2025 gubernatorial race, as New Jersey Transit’s funding becomes increasingly unsustainable.

The lone announced gubernatorial candidate, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, has made transit a key priority of his campaign –  he supports reinstating the CBT surcharge and a potential toll on New Yorkers.

The Fulop campaign views today’s poll findings as affirming their proposed policies.

“While some were quick to criticize me when we released our proposals, we see today my plan is on the right side of the issues,” said Fulop.  “Hopefully, in the future, we will see a more thoughtful discussion.”

Other potential Democratic candidates for governor, Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) and Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) had opposed Fulop’s plan.

Using the surcharge as a dedicated revenue stream for trains and buses engenders sharp partisan divides.

While Democrats overwhelmingly support the idea (73%-12%), Republicans largely oppose it (29%-52%). Independents support the policy, but at a slightly closer margin, at 52%-33%.

Support was strongest in Hudson, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, and Union counties, where residents support the policy by a 57%-24% margin.  In the coastal counties — Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth, and Ocean – residents back the restoration of the CBT surcharge at 50%-35%.   The idea also gets support from majorities in the rest of the state, albeit by smaller margins.

All primary demographics are also in favor of reinstituting the surcharge. Black residents were most likely to back it at 73%-13%; white residents were less likely, but still supportive, at 47%-35%.

While New Jerseyans might largely favor restoring the CBT surcharge, they are less inclined to support a “special toll” on New Yorkers coming into the state.

Such a potential toll is underwater at 43%-45% among all New Jersey residents.

While both Democrats and independents are supportive, the margins are significantly tighter. Independents are more comfortable with the toll, at 49%-40%, while Democrats support it at 45%-41%. The toll is underwater, with Republicans at 37%-55%.

In addition to the partisan divide, there are also significant regional divides – with residents in urban core counties being the only ones to favor the toll, at 48%-39%.

Residents in all other regions oppose the potential toll. This is most pronounced in coastal counties, where the toll is underwater at 37%-50%.

The toll is also underwater in all other regions: in the northwest, it’s at 41%-49%; in the northeast, it’s at 44%-49%; in the south, it’s at 35%-49%.

Demographically, the poll was underwater only with white residents, at 39%-51%. Black residents supported it 53%-33%; Asian residents 44%-41%; and Hispanic residents 46%-38%.

Independents are more comfortable with a “special toll” on New Yorkers coming into the state, at 49%-40%. Democrats support it but less enthusiastically, at 45%-41%. Republicans overwhelmingly oppose congestion pricing, at 37%-55%.

While all regions in the state support reinstituting the CBT surcharge, but only urban core counties – Hudson, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, and Union – support reverse congestion pricing.

The surcharge is supported among white, Black, Asian, and Hispanic residents.  White residents are the only major demographic to oppose congestion pricing.

“This new poll is proof that taxing big corporations to fund public infrastructure like NJ Transit is not only good policy but incredibly popular. Large multinationals like Amazon and Wal-Mart have been raking in record profits while public investments and programs continue to suffer from decades of disinvestment. Handing Big Business a billion-dollar tax cut is the wrong move while everyday New Jerseyans still need help with basic needs. Across all races and regions, residents clearly believe in getting profitable corporations to pay their fair share for the public services we all rely on,” said New Jersey Policy Perspective analyst Peter Chen.  “This poll underscores the Legislature’s simple choice when lawmakers return to Trenton: let corporations take a massive and unpopular tax cut, or fund popular infrastructure.”