In other words, it calls upon people to pay based on their ability to pay, quite unlike the local property tax. Indeed, a statewide poll by the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University found in 1999 that 71 percent supported raising the state's share of school funding to 50 percent of costs, and 57 percent supported increasing the state income tax if accompanied by a decrease in local property taxes. An examination of the distribution of income in New Jersey shows clearly that increasing income tax rates on the most affluent households is a reasonable way to reduce negative impacts of heavy property taxation and achieve greater tax fairness. The change in distribution among income groups in the decade between 1987 and 1997 is astounding. The average increase over ten years is 20 percent annually.
Personal income continues to grow rapidly in New Jersey.
Growth in 1998 was 5.7 percent. The estimate for 1999 was 5.8 percent and for 2000 another 6.1 percent. In fact, distribution of such assets among New Jersey citizens is even more skewed than is the case with income. A third source of additional state revenue worth examining is a restructuring of taxation on business to reflect today's modern, service-based economy. This has the potential not only to increase state revenue, but also to eliminate existing inequities in the present structure.