Murphy wants to borrow $5 billion — you and I will pay it back

This Thursday, the legislature will take up a vote to see whether Gov. Phil Murphy will be allowed to borrow $5 billion from the Federal Reserve to fix the economic holes made by the COVID-19 shutdown.

Now let’s see if you can guess who will have to pay it back

But not only will we as New Jerseyans all be on the hook for it — if our sales tax is not enough to pay down the debt, we will all be subject to an additional property tax surcharge.

I don’t have to tell you that we already have the highest property taxes in the nation. But after what we’ve gone through, especially small business owners throughout this mess of a shutdown, the last thing we need is to pay even more in our property taxes. Some Republicans are up in arms about it. Assemblyman Gerard Scharfenberger, according to an article on NewJerseyglobe.com. is one legislator who is angry about the impending vote.

“This, on top of the recent toll hikes, is a double kick in the gut to every single New Jersey resident,” the assemblyman said. “After mandating people to give up their businesses and their jobs, this bill adds insult to injury by making them pay for the loss of revenue that resulted from the government-imposed lockdown.”

Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican candidate for governor, is even threatening to sue Murphy over the unconstitutionality of the loan, according to the Globe. Our state constitution requires any bonding over 1 percent of the state budget to be approved by voters. Although administrations in the past have done it without the vote, Jim McGreevy’s being one example, we simply can’t afford to do this now. And a governor who would even think about a surcharge on our property taxes in New Jersey at this or any time is unpardonable.

GETTING NJ BACK TO BUSINESS: LIVE, THURSDAY at 7 p.m.: Eric Scott welcomes state Senate President Steve Sweeney into the studio to take your feedback on how to help local NJ businesses as they restart and grow their operations, after shutdowns due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. More information here.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi's own.