O’Scanlon: NFL’s Tyreek Hill Demonstrates How NJ’s High Taxes Impact Behavior

Senator Declan O’Scanlon said NFL star wide receiver Tyreek Hill perfectly demonstrated New Jersey’s tax problem when he explained why he chose to be traded to the Miami Dolphins instead of the New York Jets: “It was very close to happening, but it was just those state taxes, man.”

“If a professional athlete like Tyreek Hill is making a major career decision to avoid New Jersey’s ludicrously high taxes, you can be sure that financial professionals, entrepreneurs, and other high earners are doing so as well,” said O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth), who serves as the Senate Republican Budget Officer. “It’s undeniable that our high taxes impact behavior, which costs the New Jersey economy billions in income, countless jobs, lost productivity, and unrealized revenue. For teams like the Jets and Giants and their fans, New Jersey’s uncompetitive tax rates limit their access to the best talent who could save millions by playing almost anywhere else.”

For Hill, who signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension, choosing to play in Florida instead of New Jersey likely resulted in state income tax savings of nearly $13 million.

“I realized I had to make a grown-up decision,” Hill said when speaking to reporters this week about his decision to choose to play in Miami over the Meadowlands as a result of taxes.

Florida has no state income tax while New Jersey’s graduated income tax system tops out at a rate of 10.75% for earnings over $1 million.

O’Scanlon noted that families, retirees, young college graduates, and small business owners are all packing the moving vans to escape New Jersey’s high taxes, while bigger businesses like Amazon and Google have repeatedly passed over the Garden State when looking to build new headquarters with thousands of high-paying jobs.

“Tyreek Hill scored a touchdown for his finances while Democrats who are driving tax policy in Trenton have repeatedly fumbled the ball,” added O’Scanlon. “More and more New Jerseyans are realizing that you don’t need to be an NFL superstar to save meaningful amounts of money by moving to a lower-tax state.”