In One New Jersey Town, Pending Tax Changes Create Anxiety<br />The tax bills passed by the House and Senate would take away people’s ability to deduct much of what they pay in state<br />and local taxes from their income on federal tax returns.<br />Livingston’s Republican representative in Congress, Rodney Frelinghuysen, voted against the House version of the<br />tax bill because, he said, of the “very negative impacts it would have on so many of my fellow New Jerseyans.”<br />In many ways, Livingston is a microcosm of all the forces<br />that will collide in the heavily taxed towns that ring New York City when the proposed tax law takes effect.<br />These are places that have drawn residents willing to stretch their budgets to cover big mortgages and high property taxes in exchange for good schools and a comfortable lifestyle, understanding<br />that they could deduct their local levies and reduce their federal taxes.<br />Mr. Levine estimated that his taxes would rise by $14,000 a year, just from the loss of deductions on the state and local taxes he pays.<br />Rudy Fernandez, a council member and former mayor, said he feared<br />that job-seekers would steer clear of Livingston and neighboring suburbs if they could not deduct the taxes they would pay to the state and local governments.<br />Those deductions would be limited to $10,000 in a combination of property taxes and other state and local taxes.
