For New Jersey taxpayers, the bad news is even worse than a report showing their state government is $160 billion in debt.
The deficit is actually $10 billion higher than that – a whopping $170 billion – according to State Treasury records obtained by New Jersey Watchdog.
In a national study released Monday, Truth in Accounting, a non-profit advocate of governmental transparency, calculated that state governments have racked up $1.3 trillion in debt.
The report ranked New Jersey dead last among states with a burden of $52,300 per taxpayer, the highest in the country.
But it didn’t count a new valuation that found the state’s responsibility for unfunded retiree and employee health benefits has increased to $65 billion. That hikes the Garden State’s deficit per taxpayer to $55,550 – a figure that also includes pensions, bonds and other liabilities.
“I urge Gov. Chris Christie and his administration to acknowledge their state’s true debt and address this situation immediately before New Jersey sinks further into debt,” said Sheila Weinberg, CEO of Truth in Accounting.
The complete story is online at http://watchdog.org/239085/new-jersey-debt-170b/.
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