well Governor Murphy's proposed corporate Transit fee may be the biggest flash point in this year's state budget negotiations the two and a half% tax would hit New Jersey's roughly 600 top earning companies with the money going to help plug New Jersey transit's massive budget hole but the idea is getting criticism from a number of sectors including the business Community which argues it'll make New Jersey a much less enticing place to lure the sea Suite senior correspondent Brenda flann reports it puts New Jersey at a situation of not being competitive business lobbyists are pushing back hard against Governor Murphy's proposed 2 and a half% corporate Transit fee a sir charge designed to rescue NJ Transit from plunging off a fiscal cliff and keep the baguer agency on a stable funding track the extra fee at top New Jersey's current 9% corporate tax could raise up to a billion dollars a year but Business Leaders instead suggest using New Jersey's fast growing sales tax revenues to fund Transit you know sales tax increases every year by nature of inflation costs go up and therefore sales tax goes up and if you just dedicated the future funding stream of the increase in sales tax um you could find that you would probably have a good Revenue Source from there jersey 6.625% sales tax is projected to generate an extra half billion dollars next fiscal year and raising the tax rate back up to its former 7% could crank out even more cash for NJ Transit says NJ Bia president Michelle sakka there is the opportunity to go back to that that seven because we're in the realm of it and dedicate that amount we cannot afford to continue to put Working Families on the hook and we are facing many fiscal crisises and New Jersey Transit is just one of them Progressive Advocates call sales tax is regressive and unfair because they bite a larger portion of earnings from lower income folks who can least afford it progressives charge New Jersey big corporations can afford to pay a 25% search charge why are we continuing to put the burden on the backs of regular everyday new jerseyans instead of asking corporations like Amazon Walmart and Bank of America to pay their fair share and invest in the types of programs and services like NJ Transit but even Democrats have expressed some doubt about funding Transit with corporate taxes which some call a volatile Revenue source that might fall short of NJ transit's needs my concern is that it's not going to reach the level that you we all think it might reach and then you're going to have still a a a problem um you know year to year for the next couple of years and if they are looking to dedicate this to New Jersey Transit and New Jersey Transit is looking for stability which it is in a dedicated funding stream this may not be the tax to go for Business Leaders say they want to see an audit at NJ Transit the agency's currently spending more than $6 million on a feasibility study looking for up to 20% in budget cuts and some service adjustments meanwhile a coalition of New Jersey businesses claims the governor riged on his promise to let Jersey's 2 and a half% corporate tax search charge expire by proposing this new Transit fee on 600 companies earning at least $10 million a year and it's retroactive to January 1st we're two quar into this already so the clawback effect of this this tax and this fee is going to be very impactful on those companies that's going to trickle down I think that this entire tax has a lot to do with pushing people out of New Jersey not just how to keep them in New Jersey and I have a hard time believing that companies like Amazon and Walmart are all of a sudden gonna you know pull up their stakes and and hi tail it out of New Jersey simply because we're asking them to pay a tax which mind you they had already been paying uh last year but analysts warn if New Jersey once again enacts the nation's highest corporate tax some companies could decide to grow their Investments elsewhere in Trenton I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight News