N.J. Wooing N.Y. Firms to Deflect Congestion Pricing Costs
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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has unveiled $20 million in business incentive grants to combat New York City’s new congestion-pricing tolling by opening an office in New Jersey or allowing residents to telework instead of driving into Manhattan.
New York’s controversial congestion pricing, which took effect Jan. 5, charges toll rates for vehicles entering a Manhattan congestion relief zone (local streets and avenues at or below 60th Street).
“From the beginning, I vowed to fight congestion pricing, because New York should not balance its budget on the backs of New Jersey families,” Murphy said recently. “This would not only cut down on costs and travel time for commuters, but would keep their tax dollars in New Jersey. Our fight against congestion pricing isn’t over, and we won’t allow another state to line its coffers with our hard-earned money.”
Awarding up to $500,000 for eligible companies, the New Jersey Re-assigning In-State Employees Program (NJ RISE) is a pilot program launched Jan. 21 to pay $20 million in grants to businesses that reassign N.J. residents working out-of-state to local N.J. offices, and/or open N.J. offices.
Murphy
NJ RISE is being administered by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, which is advertising the program on billboards with high N.Y. commuter visibility. Signs have been placed at the 39th Street entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, on the West Side Highway at West 155th Street (as a heavily traveled north/south route in Manhattan) and on the Cross Bronx Expressway.
“Additional billboards will follow in New York and northern New Jersey, complemented by taxi top banners, digital and social media ads and transit posters,” the governor’s office noted.
Eligible companies must have at least 25 full-time employees and be mainly located in a different state such as New York or Delaware with a convenience of the employer income tax rule. Grants also require businesses to provide a current tax clearance certificate showing N.J. business registration and good standing with the N.J. Division of Taxation.
NJ-Reassigning-In-State-Employees-NJ-RISE Program
“Gov. Murphy has been committed to bringing more businesses to the Garden State, and the NJ RISE program will help incentivize companies to reassign their New Jersey employees back to their home state and increase their business activity in the state,” said Tim Sullivan, NJEDA’s CEO. “In addition to saving time and money for commuters, NJ RISE will bolster the state’s tax revenue, increase economic activity, and grow a stronger and fairer economy for New Jersey’s commuters and families.”
The new program is one of several actions Murphy has spearheaded regarding the N.Y. congestion price.
He wrote a two-page letter to President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 seeking a review.
“The current congestion pricing scheme is a disaster for working and middle-class New Jersey commuters and residents who need or want to visit lower Manhattan and now need to pay a big fee on top of the bridge and tunnel tolls they already pay,” Murphy’s letter stated. “And, adding insult to injury, New Jersey communities are not being fully compensated for the additional traffic and attendant pollution that will be rerouted to them because of congestion pricing.”
O'Toole
On Jan. 25, Murphy sent a letter to Kevin O’Toole, chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, formally seeking monthly metrics on the impact of New York’s congestion pricing on the port authority.
“While we continue to fight New York’s disastrous congestion pricing scheme through litigation, we will be closely monitoring any adverse impacts of the program on our state,” Murphy declared. “The statistical information we are requesting will help us advocate for our commuters and the broader region as we fight this unfair policy.”
He formally requested the Port Authority to submit to him on a monthly basis as well as past figures (by month) for 2023 and 2024:
• Total toll revenues for all tunnel and bridge crossings, separated by crossing.
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• Total number of vehicle passages, separated by vehicle toll class and crossing.
“Statistical information should be provided to my office for the month of January 2025 and on a monthly basis, on the 15th of each month, going forward so we may assess the continued impacts of congestion pricing,” the letter said.
On Jan. 27, Murphy announced New Jersey is updating its pending lawsuit over congestion pricing with new claims that Federal Highway Administration actions last year approving both the start of congestion pricing as well as last-minute changes N.Y. officials made to the tolling plans were approved without appropriate environmental reviews.
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