As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie lays the groundwork to prove his job creation credentials for his 2016 bid for the GOP nomination, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority is preparing to offer a massive tax break to JPMorgan Chase to lure it into relocating to Jersey City, the
International Business Times reported.
The tax incentive is estimated to come in at nearly $19 million per year for 10 years.
With the new subsidy, Christie will have issued more than $6 billion in corporate tax subsidies this decade, according to the nonpartisan think tank the New Jersey Policy Perspective. By comparison, just $1.2 billion in tax subsidies were granted during the previous decade.
Christie has frequently touted his record of creating private sector job growth, but critics say the cost per job is becoming unsustainable. Specifically, in 2014, the cost per job in New Jersey was at an all-time high of $80,000, an increase from 2009 when the cost per job was just $18,000, the Times said.
"Despite the billions of special tax breaks approved over the past five-and-a-half years, New Jersey's economy remains worse than fragile," NJPP said in a memo, according to the Times. "The state has recovered just 72 percent of the jobs it lost during the Great Recession, far less than our neighbors or the nation as a whole."
The state's development authority, or NJEDA, is considering a total of $308 million in tax breaks on Thursday. In addition to the package for JPMorgan Chase, the administration has proposed $27 million break for Jaguar Land Rover of North America; $40 million for a 400-unit residential project in downtown Jersey City; and $33 million for an "Atlantic City Contact Center," the Times reported.
Since the passage of the Grow New Jersey Assistance program in 2012 signed by Christie, corporate tax subsidies have accelerated.
The Times highlighted other examples of recent tax subsidies, such as an $82 million deal to bring a Philadelphia 76ers practice facility to the Camden waterfront last year, and a total of $303 million in combined tax credits over a decade for JPMorgan Chase and RBC Capital Markets to create 1,000 jobs.
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