Taxes – and reducing them – are the top three concerns for businesses in the annual BIA Business Outlook Survey

In the coming months, New Jersey voters will decide which of the nine (and counting) gubernatorial candidates they would like to see as the next governor.

This morning the business community is voicing its concern for this individual.

The New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s 66th annual Business Outlook survey, released today, makes it clear that business leaders have taxes on their minds.

Nearly one to four of those surveyed – all senior business leaders – cited “property tax cuts” as the measure that could have the greatest positive impact on their businesses.

Of the 620 respondents, all of whom were asked to list their top three most impactful actions, more than half (53%) ranked cutting property taxes among their top three actions.

There’s more:

• Reducing health insurance costs was cited most frequently by 51% of respondents, including 15% who cited it as their top concern.
• 40% named cutting corporate taxes in their top three, including 16% who said it was their first wish.

As a reminder, Governor Phil Murphy returned New Jersey to the nation’s highest corporate tax rate (11.5%) in 2024, reversing his 2023 commitment to lower the rate.

Michele Siekerka, the CEO of the NJBIA, said she hopes all elected officials will comply with the request.

“The fact that New Jersey businesses want a reduction in property taxes isn’t necessarily surprising, but the idea that they never seem to be in the conversation about property tax relief from policymakers is,” she said.

“New Jersey businesses are excluded from any property tax relief under the ANCHOR and Stay NJ programs, despite paying nearly half of the state’s property taxes annually. A new governor clearly has the opportunity to endear himself to our job creators by providing them with some much-needed property tax savings.”

The tax proposal ultimately impacts another important concern: affordability.

Employers also continued to be extremely disappointed with business affordability in the state. When asked whether New Jersey’s governor and legislature have done enough to improve business affordability over the past 12 months, just 4% said “yes” for the second year in a row.

This year, 74% answered “no” to the same question – compared to 68% in 2023.

Additionally, 79% said New Jersey business affordability has declined over the past five years, while only 4% said it has improved over the same period. Seventeen percent said business affordability has remained the same over the past five years.

“Unfortunately, corporate affordability does not appear to be gaining significant traction among policymakers,” Siekerka said. “We hope a new regime in Trenton recognizes the extreme cost of doing business in the state as a whole and considers measures to improve this sobering trend.”

About the survey: Questions for NJBIA’s 66th Annual Business Outlook Survey, conducted in collaboration with Englewood-based Signet Research, were sent to New Jersey business owners and executives in September and October 2024. The report is based on 620 valid answers.

Most respondents were small businesses, with 66% employing 24 or fewer employees.

The full results for each survey question that allows a single answer may be slightly more or less than 100% based on calculations made before rounding.

To view the full survey, click here.