• New Jersey’s 2026 fiscal year budget will exceed $58 billion, a 67% increase from eight years prior.
• The budget will include tax and fee increases for home and business owners.
• Proposed “fun” taxes on recreational activities like bowling and golf are criticized for targeting small businesses and families.
• Advocates call for comprehensive economic and fiscal reform, including tax reduction, spending focus and pension reform.
• A call is made to abandon the “fun” taxes and provide taxpayers with relief.

Sometime in the next few days, the New Jersey Legislature is going to pass — and Gov. Phil Murphy is going to sign — New Jersey’s state budget for the 2026 fiscal year.

There are two things about this budget that are not going to change between now and then:

1. It will be the largest state budget in the Garden State’s history, a spending plan in excess of $58 billion — a 67% increase from just eight years ago.
2. It will include several tax and fee increases that will expenses increase for many home and business owners.

Regrettably, with competitive gubernatorial primaries on both sides of the aisle captivating voters and drawing ample media attention throughout much of the spring and early summer, the governor’s budget proposal has gotten less attention than normal, with most of the discussion and debate being relegated to sparsely attended budget hearings and legislative committee meetings in Trenton.

A lack of dialogue and transparency is never a good thing in government — especially with the amount of money being spent the prospect of higher taxes to cover the shortfall. This lack of transparency is exactly why Garden State Initiative, or GSI, launched njbudget.com last month to provide citizens and journalists alike access to a user-friendly website that  provides access to data about how and where your tax dollars are being spent. We encourage anyone reading this to check out njbudget.com and become better informed.

New Jersey does not need tax increases

While we collectively — and strongly — oppose any and all new tax increases in the proposed state budget, as well as continuation of unrestrained spending growth that has marked the past eight years, we at GSI and the National Federation of Independent Business, or NFIB, are particularly concerned about the potential for new “fun” taxes in the form of expanding the state’s 6.625% sales tax to include things like bowling alleys, swimming pools, golf course greens fees, batting cages, mini golf, skating rinks and more.

These “fun” taxes are particularly offensive given their target: namely small business owners, entrepreneurs and sole proprietorships who will be forced to pass the rising cost of doing business on to young families and seniors on fixed incomes already struggling to make ends meet in a state that is already too expensive. Trying to squeeze a few extra dollars out of someone who chooses to take their daughter to the batting cages after work or their son to the local golf course on the weekend is unfair and unnecessary.

Hasn’t Trenton put enough financial pressure on these residents? Consider that New Jersey’s average property tax bill exceeded $10,000 for the first time in history this year and many of these residents are already enduring higher gas taxes, skyrocketing utility bills, toll increases and rising NJ Transit fares.

When is enough, enough?

New Jersey needs comprehensive economic, fiscal reform

Both GSI and NFIB have been vocal about the need for comprehensive economic and fiscal reform in the state for years and will continue to beat that drum next year with whomever is elected as our new governor.

We need to permanently and significantly reduce the tax burden on individuals and businesses to boost competitiveness with other states that are currently drawing in families and companies; we need to focus state spending on essential public services while cutting back on non-essential areas; we need to ensure the state’s budget is fiscally balanced, where annual revenues fully cover annual expenditures: we need a new Energy Master Plan that isn’t completely reliant on failing offshore wind and aspirational EV mandates; and we need reforms to the state’s pension and retiree health care systems to reduce the annual costs.

That said, we understand those changes aren’t going to happen in the next few days. Entrenched, systemic problems require comprehensive, innovative and long-term solutions that truly chart a new economic and fiscal course for our state.

However, one thing the governor and legislature can do in the next few days is abandon these so-called “fun” taxes and give our state’s taxpayers the break they so richly deserve.