TRENTON, NJ – A report by the University of Denver says when it comes to the financial state of all 50 states in America, New Jersey is the worst of the worst. The Garden State ranks dead last.
The report is the university’s 13th annual “Truth in Accounting” report by a neutral and non-partisan research group.
“Government reports are lengthy, cumbersome, and sometimes misleading documents. At Truth in Accounting (TIA), we believe that taxpayers and citizens deserve easy-to-understand, truthful, and transparent financial information from their governments,” the University said.
New Jersey was actually named the #1 sinkhole state by the study, saying the taxpayer burden to pay the bills is $62,500 per taxpayer.
Last year, New Jersey was 49th on the list, but dropped down to claim the top spot at the bottom from Connecticut.
“New Jersey moved from 49th to last place in fiscal year 2021 and remained in the bottom five Sinkhole States for the thirteenth year in a row. New Jersey was the only state to experience a decrease in their financial condition. The money needed to pay bills increased by more than $12.5 billion,” the report said about the state. “Like all states, New Jersey’s pension plan assets experienced significant, short-term increases in values, yet the state’s portion of their Net Pension Liability increased because they assumed new pension responsibility from their local governments. This all translates to an individual Taxpayer Burden™ of $58,700 giving New Jersey the distinct dishonor of last place in the Financial State of the States for 2022.”
Here’s what the report found:
- New Jersey had $43.4 billion available to pay $241.1 billion worth of bills.
- The outcome was a $197.7 billion shortfall, which breaks down to a burden of $58,700 per taxpayer.
- New Jersey’s financial position appeared to decrease in 2021. Its status will most likely decline further as federal Covid funding decreases and the market value of retirement system assets decline.
New Jersey was graded a solid F in the report.
“New Jersey would need $58,700 from each of its taxpayers to pay all of its bills, so it received an “F” for its finances. According to Truth in Accounting’s grading scale, any government with a Taxpayer Burden greater than $20,000 receives an F,” the report noted.