Democratic leaders take third stab at getting millionaire's tax past Gov. Christie

TRENTON — It looks like Gov. Chris Christie will get a third chance to veto a millionaire’s tax.
This time around, Democrat leaders plan on using the additional revenue to boost funding for the Homestead Rebate program, which provides property tax relief for senior citizens and middle and working class families, Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Camden) said today.
“If the governor wants to protect millionaires instead of providing property tax relief to those who need it, he has a chance,” Greenwald said, adding that Senate Democratic leadership supports the plan.
Christie plans on putting roughly $500 million into the Homestead Rebate program next year, and the millionaire’s tax would provide about an additional $800 million. The program needs about $2 billion to be fully funded, Greenwald said.
Christie has twice vetoed such a tax, and has vowed to do it again.
Greenwald also confirmed plans to delay further tax cuts until — or unless — Christie hits his optimistic revenue targets.
“We have a revenue problem,” Greenwald said.
Competing tax cut plans, offered first by Christie and then by Democrats, have dominated this year's budget discussions, but an unexpected drop in revenue has cast doubt on whether the state can afford it. Christie has emphatically said yes, though Democrats — many of whom have played along — have been skeptical.
Estimated revenue shortfalls for the state range from about $705 million, which the Christie administration has projected, to $1.4 billion offered by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services through the end of the 2013 fiscal year.
Christie has pushed an income tax cut, while Democrat lawmakers have pushed similar plans for a property tax credit to be applied on residents’ income tax returns.
Greenwald said the plan is to provide the property tax credit, but only if the state can afford it.