In One New Jersey Town, Pending Tax Changes Create Anxiety The tax bills passed by the House and Senate would take away people’s ability to deduct much of what they pay in state and local taxes from their income on federal tax returns. Livingston’s Republican representative in Congress, Rodney Frelinghuysen, voted against the House version of the tax bill because, he said, of the “very negative impacts it would have on so many of my fellow New Jerseyans.” In many ways, Livingston is a microcosm of all the forces that will collide in the heavily taxed towns that ring New York City when the proposed tax law takes effect. These are places that have drawn residents willing to stretch their budgets to cover big mortgages and high property taxes in exchange for good schools and a comfortable lifestyle, understanding that they could deduct their local levies and reduce their federal taxes. Mr. Levine estimated that his taxes would rise by $14,000 a year, just from the loss of deductions on the state and local taxes he pays. Rudy Fernandez, a council member and former mayor, said he feared that job-seekers would steer clear of Livingston and neighboring suburbs if they could not deduct the taxes they would pay to the state and local governments. Those deductions would be limited to $10,000 in a combination of property taxes and other state and local taxes.
