| Written and distributed since 2003 by Donald Katz, Esq., Republican State Committeeman for Middlesex County and Counsel, Middlesex County Republican Organization RESULTS OF JUNE 12 MCRO MEETING AND A THANK YOU The Middlesex County Republican Organization (“MCRO”) meeting, held a meeting on June 12th. This meeting was required based on a recent state law change put through by the Democrat controlled legislature and Democrat governor, which changed the way state committee members are to be elected. Previously, New Jersey Republican State Committee members were elected by the Republican voters in every Republican primary election in the year the governor is elected. (I have been successful elected and re-elected in this manner since the early 1990s, and, in most instances, I got more votes than any other Republican on the ballot, or sometimes coming in behind only the Governor or Gubernatorial candidate, who was at the top ballot.) At the meeting, the county committee members unanimously voted to amend the MCRO bylaws to provide that the county committee members would, going forward, elect the State Committee members directly and, once the bylaws amendment was passed, also unanimously re-elected me, Donald Katz, Republican State Committeeman and April Bengivenga, Republican State Committeewoman. I want to take this opportunity to thank all those Republican County Committee members who came out and voted for me and those other Republicans who supported me. Further down in this newsletter is the talk I gave to all those present at the June 12th meeting. POLITICAL TRIVIA: Here are some political trivia questions. I hope you enjoy them. The answers are below, immediately above the calendar: 1. Calvin Coolidge was the U.S. President born the farthest North. True or False? 2. Who was the first person to appear on a regular circulating U.S. Coin, and which one? 3. What First Lady received an Emmy for her “Tour of the White House”? 4. What does the “F” in John F. Kennedy stand for? 5. The first Presidential Inauguration was held in what city? 6. Who was the first previously divorced U.S. President? 7. Which President has the first fully digital presidential library? NEWLY PUBLISHED ARTICLE WHICH, UNFORTUNATELY, IS OLD NEWS: “NJ HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST TAX BURDENS” The Home News Tribune, on the front page of its June 14th issue, has an article titled “NJ has one of the highest tax burdens.” You may also be able to review the whole article on mycentraljersey.com. Although it doesn’t say anything about who is to blame, the Democrats have been fully in control of both the State Senate and the State Assembly since the start of 2002, so they are the folks to blame. What follows are excerpts from that article, which quantifies how bad the NJ tax burden is: The Garden State ranks sixth nationally in total tax burden for 2025, according to WalletHub. The tax load, equivalent to 10.3% of personal income, comprises the nation’s third highest property tax burden, a high income tax burden, and moderate sales taxes. WalletHub breaks down the state’s tax composition as 4.67% of income going to property taxes, 2.87% to income taxes and 2.76% to sales and excise taxes. Only New York, Hawaii, Vermont, Maine and Connecticut rank higher in overall percentage for 2025. Federal taxes and other fees help bring the state’s effective tax rate even higher. Here are the main culprits: New Jersey property taxes New Jersey’s property taxes are consistently ranked as the highest in the country, with the average bill climbing to nearly $10,100 in 2024, according to the state Department of Community Affairs. …. The Tax Foundation ranked New Jersey 49th out of 50 states (only behind New York) in overall tax competitiveness in recent years, including 2025, with officials citing property taxes as a major factor. According to the Tax Foundation, the average effective property tax rate in the state was 2.23% in 2023, compared to a national average of 0.9% in SmartAsset’s 2024 property tax study. That means a home assessed at $300,000 would face a property tax bill of nearly $6,700 a year in New Jersey, compared to about $2,700 under the national average. The state’s progressive income tax ranges from 1.4% for income under $20,000 to 10.75% for income over $5 million, according to Division of Taxation records. New Jersey’s top rate is one of the highest in the country, according to the Tax Foundation. Moreover, according to Bankrate’s 2024 state tax comparison, New Jersey does not adjust its tax brackets for inflation, which means residents may face higher effective tax rates over time even if their real income does not increase. The lack of indexing can result in “bracket creep,” where inflation pushes taxpayers into higher tax brackets despite no increase in purchasing power. Some states, including Texas, Florida and New Hampshire, have no income tax and therefore no taxes on 401(k) withdrawals, according to the Tax Foundation. Some others with a state income tax do not tax 401(k) withdrawals in retirement, including Illinois, Iowa and Pennsylvania. New Jersey allows retirees to exclude some income from state taxes, depending on their earnings. Right now, the cutoff for that exclusion is $150,000 in total income. New Jersey sales tax New Jersey’s statewide sales tax is 6.625%, less than a few other states including California (7.25%), Indiana (7%) and Nevada (6.85%) but more than most, including several that have no sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana and New Hampshire, according to the Tax Foundation. New Jersey gas tax As of Jan. 1, New Jersey drivers pay $0.449 per gallon in gasoline taxes, including both the motor fuels tax and the petroleum products gross receipts tax. Diesel is taxed at $0.519 per gallon. These rates are set annually based on a formula tied to revenue goals related to infrastructure improvements on the state’s roadways and bridges. AARP’s 2024 New Jersey state tax guide places the state among the top 10 for highest fuel taxes. The Tax Foundation has it eighth in 2024, far behind California’s $0.681 tax but above the median tax of $0.30 per gallon imposed in South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. New Jersey’s ‘Sin Tax’ Excise taxes in New Jersey add significant cost to a variety of products, most notably in the form of so-called “sin taxes.” According to the state Division of Taxation, the excise tax on beer is $0.12 per gallon, on wine is $0.875 per gallon and on liquor is $5.50 per gallon. These are in addition to the state’s 6.625% sales tax. Cannabis is taxed at $1.24 per ounce under a separate social equity fee, while cigarettes are taxed at $2.70 per pack. Tobacco products, meanwhile, carry a 30% wholesale tax, and vapor products are taxed at $0.10 per milliliter of liquid nicotine and 10% of the retail price for container e-liquids. Other New Jersey excise taxes Excise taxes also infiltrate other everyday transactions. Public water systems pay a tax of $0.00001 per gallon, and utilities face gross receipts and franchise taxes ranging from 0.625% to 7%, depending on use and revenue level. … New Jersey inheritance taxes While New Jersey repealed its estate tax in 2018, it still imposes an inheritance tax ranging from 11% to 16% on amounts of more than $25,000, depending on the relationship of the heir to the deceased. Spouses, children and grandchildren are exempt, but siblings, nieces, nephews and unrelated beneficiaries may owe significant sums. This structure remains one of the few of its kind in the country, as only 17 states impose these types of taxes, according to the Tax Foundation. Maryland is the only state that charges both an estate tax and an inheritance tax. … Comparing New Jersey to other states By percentage of income, New Jersey’s 10.3% total tax burden is lower than New York’s (13.56%) but higher than Pennsylvania’s (8.53%), based on WalletHub’s 2024 comparison. However, New Jersey’s per capita property tax collections are the highest in the nation, a key reason residents consistently rank the state as among the most expensive to live in. A 2024 report from the Tax Foundation also ranked New Jersey 50th — dead last — in its State Business Tax Climate Index. The state earned low marks for its corporate taxes, property taxes and individual income tax structure. …and more New Jersey taxes There are numerous other taxes that New Jersey residents pay, from real estate sales, purchases and transfers, recycling, public utilities, hotels, short term rentals and more. MY (DON KATZ’S) PRESENTATION TO THE COUNTY COMMITTEE MEMBERS AT THE JUNE 12 MCRO MEETING: First, I want to thank you for your support and vote. I have been a member of the New Jersey Republican State Committee for 33 years. This is my 10th successful state committee election and when the Committee reorganizes, I will be the longest-serving member of the State Committee. This is not a matter of luck. It is recognition that I work hard for the Republican Party and its candidates, and I have done so for a long time, starting as a youngster passing out literature for Barry Goldwater in the Jewish sections of Perth Amboy in 1964. This is not always easy, but it is important, and I urge you to work as hard as you can for the party and our candidates, as well. I don’t need to tell you about me or what I do, since it is on the flyer on your chairs. However, as this is a historic meeting of the MCRO – the first meeting of just our committee people – other than for the purpose of electing our MCRO officers – since prior to 1982, when we adopted our Republicans to participate in our candidate selection conventions. There are, therefore, a number of things I would like to tell you: First, I have revised my Middlesex County Republican County Committee Handbook, which I have written and revised numerous times since the 1990s, and now in its 12th Edition. I have e-mailed electronic copies to all your Municipal Chairs, with a request that they forward copies to each of you. If they haven’t already done so, ask your chair to send you a copy. No county committee member will do everything in the handbook, but if you do just a few of the items referenced, the party and our candidates will be more successful, and your work could be the difference between victory and defeat. Second, as many of you know, I have been preparing, for free and for many years, candidate nametags for every Republican candidate running in Middlesex County who wants one. I already prepared and distributed the nametags for most of the people who were on the ballot in the primary election, but I still have a few that have not yet been distributed, so if you are a candidate or a municipal chair with candidates in your town who do not yet have your nametags, see me after the meeting and I will give them to you. Also, if there are additional candidates who have been successfully nominated by write-in votes in the primary, if their chair contacts me with their full contact information, including e-mail address, I will also prepare nametags for them. Third, many of you receive my e-mail newsletter “Middlesex County GOP Update,” which I have been writing and distributing since 2003. This newsletter grew out of a periodic report my first state committeewoman, Rita Gallagher, and I, prepared after each State Committee meeting, starting in 1992, reporting on what we thought was useful or interesting information, which we physically printed and snail mailed to all our municipal chairs and county GOP leaders. Once we transitioned the report to email, I was able to add additional Middlesex County Republicans to my e-mail list and it has grown, and continues to grow over time, so that, as of now, there are over 1,500 registered Republicans, almost all of whom are from Middlesex County, who receive the newsletter, and the latest issue has so far been opened almost 1,700 times. A. If you are not receiving my newsletter and you would like to do so, or you know other registered Republicans in Middlesex County who would like to do so, you or they should e-mail me their contact information, and I will add you, or them, to my e-mail newsletter list. My e-mail address is: dkatzlaw@aol.com – that is dkatzlaw@aol.com. B. If you do receive my newsletter, you should feel free to forward it to anyone you feel would find it interesting or useful, but a word of warning, before you forward it, you must delete the “unsubscribe” section at the bottom of the newsletter, or someone you forward it to can press the “unsubscribe” button and unsubscribe you from the newsletter and my e-mail newsletter program will not allow me to add back your e-mail to my newsletter list. C. Also, if your Republican organization, club or candidate is holding a fundraiser, or some other event where people from outside your town or district might be interested in attending and you would like them to do so, please e-mail me all of the information as soon as it is available, and I will add it to the calendar in my newsletter and it will continue to appear in every issue of the newsletter until the event occurs. It costs you nothing to include the information and if it sells even one more admission to your event, you are ahead of the game. D. For those of you who didn’t catch my e-mail earlier, it is, once again: dkatzlaw@aol.com, and it is also at the bottom of every one of my newsletters, and it is in my county committee handbook. Finally, as many of you know, I am also a Commissioner of the Middlesex County Board of Elections along with Sylvia Engel, who is Chairman of the Board, and April Bengivenga. The Board of Elections is a small bipartisan office – half Democrats and half Republicans – but when we do have a Republican opening, we want to be sure that the person who will fill the position is a good Republican. In addition to rare full-time positions, we more regularly have seasonal positions which are temporary, mostly clerical, positions where the person works long hours, (and gets paid for them), for a period of time before and after each election and drivers before each election who go around as part of a two-person team, one D and one R, picking up the vote by mail ballots from the drop boxes around the county. If you are possibly interested in these positions, provide a resume to your municipal chair for forwarding to the Republican Commissioners for their consideration, on consultation with the County Chair, so we can forward appropriate resumes to the Board of Elections administrators with a recommendation that they be considered and, if found acceptable, hired. Once again, thank you for your support and vote. On to victory in November! ANSWERS TO POLITICAL TRIVIA: 1. False. Chester A. Arthur, was born in the small town of Fairfield, Vermont, just 15 miles from the Canadian border. In fact, he was born so close to the Canadian border that some conspiracy theorists at the time claimed he may have been ineligible to be President. Calvin Coolidge was born farther south in Vermont. 2. Abraham Lincoln on the penny. Since the nation’s founding U.S. coins and currency featured images and symbols linked to the concept of liberty. That changed in 1909 when the U.S. Mint redesigned the 1-cent coin to commemorate the centennial of Lincoln’s 1809 birth. The new coin, the first circulating one to honor a real person, featured a portrait of Lincoln by sculptor Victor David Brenner. The artist’s 1907 plaque of Lincoln reportedly caught the attention of then-President Theodore Roosevelt, who lobbied for its use on the new Lincoln penny, which was released in August 1909. Lincoln remained the only President honored on a coin for more than two decades until a redesigned quarter was released in 1932 to mark the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first President, George Washington. (Before you send me any e-mails, I am aware that commemorative coins, starting in 1892, sometimes honored real people.) 3. Jacqueline Kennedy. “A Television Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy” was broadcast on February 14, 1962 earning the First Lady an honorary Emmy for her efforts. 4. Fitzgerald, which was the maiden name of Kennedy’s mother, Rose. 5. New York City 6. Ronald Reagan 7. Barack Obama UPDATED CALENDAR What follows is an updated calendar. If you have any municipal or countywide fundraisers or functions you would like me to include in my e-mail calendar from time to time, please contact me at dkatzlaw@aol.com. Please note that organizations and campaigns sometimes provide added information, change dates, or cancel events, which I include in this calendar if I receive the information in time. Therefore, if you plan to attend an event, please make sure you review the calendar listing in my latest e-mail and, to the extent you may not have pre-registered for the particular event so the sponsoring group will be able to contact you about any changes, you may want to check with the sponsoring group before you go to make sure the information has not changed. Also, please be aware that these e-mails are not official MCRO notices or mailings, they are just something I do, voluntarily, to help our Republican Party. June 17 (Tuesday 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm) – Middlesex County Republican Women’s Club Meeting, East Brunswick Library, 2 Civic Center Drive, (off Ryder’s Lane), East Brunswick. July 16 (Wednesday 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm) – “Remembering Rick” (Rosenberg, Jr)” Dinner, Ria Mar Restaurant, 25 Whitehead Avenue, South River. $50.00 per person. Includes Buffet and Open Bar. To benefit the Rick Rosenberg, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund set up in his honor at Rowan University. Rick was born and raised in South River and was an excellent campaign consultant who helped South River and other Middlesex County Republicans, often for free or for a small charge, who had an untimely death at a young age. RSVP to Monica Rosenberg at MMRBUG98@aol.com or 732-406-5013. Checks payable to Rick Rosenberg, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund should be mailed to Monica Rosenberg, 125 Brian Oaks Trail, Conway, SC 29527. Please forward this information to any Middlesex County Republican, or other individuals, who you think might be interested in seeing it, but, before you forward it, make sure you delete the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of this e-mail, otherwise one of the people you forward it to may unsubscribe you and the program will not let me add you back to my mailing list. Further, if you know of any Middlesex County Republicans who would like to receive periodic reports about Republican-related information I believe might be interesting or useful, please have them send me, Donald Katz, an e-mail to dkatzlaw@aol.com, and I will add them to my e-mail list. By the same token, if you ever wish to be removed from my e-mail list, click “unsubscribe” at the foot of this e-mail. Donald Katz, Esq. Republican State Committeeman – Middlesex County and Counsel, Middlesex County Republican Organization dkatzlaw@aol.com 119 Leeds Lane Monroe Township, NJ 08831 (C) 908-227-9239 Copyright © 2025 Donald Katz, All rights reserved, except forwarding of entire newsletter to Republicans is permitted and encouraged and excerpts may be used for non-commercial purposes provided the excerpts are attributed to Donald Katz |
MIDDLESEX COUNTY GOP UPDATE
