Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association (Steve Lubetkin Photo/StateBroadcastNews.com. Used by permission.)

CLARK, NJ—New Jersey's recent gasoline tax increase of 23 cents a gallon, which will pump $2 billion into transportation infrastructure improvements, will return some $4.7 billion in increased economic output, says the head of one of the state's largest business organizations.

The infrastructure investments will generate an additional $305 million in increased economic activity in the real estate sector, says Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the NJ Business & Industry Association. Siekerka was a keynote speaker at an Economic Outlook conference held by the New Jersey Bank Marketing Association in Clark, NJ, Thursday.

“We're forced to make up for the failure of past administrations for decades to have the courage to continue the important investment in infrastructure,” she says. “What do we get for 23 cents? We're going to have a $2 billion per year spend times six years. For that, we're going to get back $4.73 billion in economic output. About 35,000 jobs, $1.44 billion in wages per year for the $2 billion spend. So of that, you're going to get another $93 million in income taxes coming into the rolls, $16 million in payroll tax, and about $40 million in sales tax. That creation of jobs is going to stimulate our economy, and we're going to see that over the next six years.”

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Steve Lubetkin

Steve Lubetkin is the New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com. He is currently filling in covering Chicago and Midwest markets until a new permanent editor is named. He previously filled in covering Atlanta. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. His audio and video work for GlobeSt.com has been honored by the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced audio podcasts on CRE topics for the NAR Commercial Division and the CCIM Institute. Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies. Steve also reports on-camera and covers conferences for NJSpotlight.com, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC. Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996. Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional. You can email Steve at [email protected].