BLUE STATE BLUES: New Jersey’s Self-Inflicted Fiscal Woes May Bring Statewide Property Tax.

Under a bill introduced by that state’s Senate President Martin Looney (D-New Haven), a new statewide tax would be placed on commercial and residential property, with the first $300,000 of assessed value exempt from the tax. For a home with a market value of $500,000, for example, that would mean an extra $50 assessment, while a homeowner with a $1 million house would pay about $400.

While the first year of this tax is expected to raise $73.5 million, a small fraction of that state’s $22 billion budget, Connecticut has opened the door for a statewide property tax that has no upper limit. It offers a “new” tax revenue source for states like New Jersey that have failed to address their structural deficits and continue to live beyond their means. Many New Jersey homeowners refer to their local property tax bills as a second mortgage, since the burden often rivals or exceeds the monthly payments on their home purchase.

Easy call: The new taxes won’t generate the expected revenue, as more and more people choose to leave New Jersey — further compounding the state’s debt woes and death spiral.