The New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants is out with a new survey gauging feedback from Garden State CPAs about Gov. Phil Murphy’s $58.1 billion Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal.

The survey asked 350 CPAs:

• What impact do you think Murphy’s proposed budget will have on the state’s economy over the long term?
  • 47% believe it will get significantly worse; 33% marginally worse; 9% stay the same; 6% marginally better; and 5% significantly better
• With the looming threat of federal cuts to Medicaid and NJ Transit funding, should Murphy have made additional cuts to prepare for the worst-case scenario?
  • 80% said yes; 20% replied no

The respondents noted several areas for potential cost-cutting that they believed the Murphy administration should have focused on – such as government spending on non-core services, the state’s pension obligations, not paying out unused vacation time to legislators upon retirement, eliminating municipal services duplication, reducing taxes on personal income and real estate, make state spending more efficient and privatizing NJ Transit.

In an effort to attract more businesses to the state, the respondents recommended lowering corporate taxes – a key issue in last year’s budget fight.

NJCPA highlighted some of the key elements of the budget proposal, such as a full pension payment, direct property tax relief through ANCHOR and other programs, full school funding, infrastructure investments, more funding for Strategic Innovation Centers, several tax and fee increases, and more.

The budget process has begun in earnest and will accelerate in the coming weeks and months – as hearings kick off and tough decisions are made by the Legislature ahead of the June 30 deadline, in an environment with tightening fiscal conditions and those aforementioned, looming potential federal cuts.

“We welcome CPAs to be included in conversations regarding the state’s economic well-being and how to improve the business landscape,” said Aiysha (AJ) Johnson, CEO and executive director of the NJCPA. “Their work resonates across all industries, which makes them a valuable resource for lawmakers.”