Legislators Propose 'Tax Credit for Tolls' Law

A group of Ocean County state legislators have proposed a bill that would allow commuters to claim a tax credit if they spend $1,000 or more on highway tolls per year.

Senator Jim Holzapfel and Assemblymen Dave Wolfe and Greg McGuckin (all R-10) proposed the bill in their respective chambers Tuesday. If it becomes law, commuters would be able to receive a $1,000 state income tax credit if their E-ZPass toll accounts register $1,000 or more in toll payments in a given year.

Holzapfel said the law is aimed at providing relief for commuters who have seen "relentless" toll increases in recent years.

"By providing commuters with a means to offset a portion of their commuting costs, our bill recognizes that these taxpayers are paying more than their fair share for transportation and economic development projects, while encouraging commuters to use E-ZPass," Holzapfel said in a statement.

The bill may prove popular in the legislators' northern Ocean County district, where there are few mass transit options and the Garden State Parkway is commonly used for both commuting purposes as well as driving from one town to the next.

Toll prices on the state's highways have risen approximately 90 percent since 2008, when the New Jersey Turnpike Authority adopted a two-phase rate hike plan. The plan was approved, and the first phase implemented, by the administration of former Gov. Jon Corzine. The most recent phase was implemented Jan. 1, 2012 under the administration of Gov. Chris Christie, sparking a debate between Republicans and Democrats over who was to blame for the increase.

Wolfe said he opposed the plan in 2008, and ever since then, highway maintenance funds generated by tolls have been diverted from the Shore area to transportation and development projects in other parts of New Jersey.

The average passenger toll on the New Jersey Turnpike now stands at $3.30, with the average Garden State Parkway toll adding up to $1.05.