COHEN CRAFTING TOLL-PAYER TAX CREDIT MEASURE

Proposed Legislation to Take Effect Only if Fiscal Restructuring Plan Is Enacted

(ROSELLE) - Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee Chairman Neil M. Cohen today announced he is drafting legislation to mitigate the impact of toll hikes under Governor Jon S. Corzine's proposed fiscal restructuring plan through a new tax credit for New Jersey motorists.

"Allowing motorists to apply for a tax credit on the tolls they pay would help reduce the strain on those who use our toll roads out of necessity, not convenience," said Cohen (D-Union).

Cohen said his legislation would allow motorists to apply for tax credits of up to $500 on the portion of tolls that would increase under the proposed fiscal restructuring plan.  Motorists seeking to take advantage of the credit would either have to be E-ZPass subscribers or keep detailed receipts of their cash toll payments.  The measure also would tie increases in the refund ceiling to the toll hike schedule, at a rate still to be determined.

Cohen cautioned that he was preparing the measure only as a safeguard to New Jersey drivers, should the fiscal restructuring plan become law.  Cohen said he has taken no position on the proposed fiscal restructuring plan, as no legislation has been formally introduced.  Assuming both the fiscal restructuring plan and this legislation were enacted, the tax credits would not become available until 2010 - the year of the first scheduled toll increases.

"Businesses already have the ability to absorb the costs of increased tolls, through tax write-offs and cost increases; residents do not," said Cohen.  "We need to put a system in place that will ameliorate the increased costs that residents - especially those on fixed incomes - would incur."

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