Five Decades Later, Rutgers-Eagleton Poll Still Finds Taxes to be Most Important
Problem Facing New Jersey
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Nov. 23, 2021) – Not much has changed in 50 years when it comes to
New Jersey’s most important problem, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. Then and now, New
Jerseyans rate taxes – including property taxes – as their number one concern.
In the most recent poll, 39 percent of residents mention taxes when asked about the top issues
facing the state, followed by 14 percent who say the economy, and 10 percent who cite state
government.
“The more things change, the more they stay the same–at least when it comes to how residents
view taxes,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton
Center for Public Interest Polling (ECPIP) at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.
Six percent of New Jerseyans mention the pandemic as an issue; problems with the state’s
response to the pandemic, climate change and the environment, infrastructure, education,
crime and drugs, and housing are considered to be major problems by under 5 percent of those
polled.
In 1971, when the poll was first founded, taxes also took the top spot at 26 percent, followed
closely by crime and drug addiction at 24 percent, poverty, welfare, and unemployment each at
24 percent, the environment at 23 percent, education at 22 percent, and transportation at 11
percent.
“The Rutgers-Eagleton Poll–the first university-based statewide survey research center in the
nation–has been taking the pulse of New Jerseyans for five decades now and has perennially
found taxes to be their biggest concern,” said Koning. “As we revisit some of the first questions
the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll asked in celebration of its 50th anniversary, it is clear that New
Jerseyans’ frustration with taxes has not only withstood the test of time but also intensified.”