Rampant political corruption in New Jersey is a hidden tax that each year takes a $1 billion dollars out of the wallets of New Jersey taxpayers, according to a Rutgers study produced by the Prudential Business Ethics Center.

New Jersey – A Hell Of A State For Taxpayers

New Jersey residents continue fleeing the state in search of jobs, lower taxes and a more affordable cost of living. Only three New Jersey counties, Somerset, Gloucester and Cumberland, are keeping up with the nation's population growth rate, according to new Census data released today.

New Jersey's demographic quandary is simple: More residents are moving out of the state than are moving in.

James Hughes, dean of the Bloustein School of Public Policy and Planning at Rutgers University explains why:

“The reasons people are leaving are basically economic. When you look at New Jersey compared to the rest of the country, there are more economic opportunities in places like North Carolina, which has a rapidly growing economy and more affordable housing."

Without close to one million illegal immigrants, New Jersey’s population would actually have declined.

New Jersey's illegal immigrant population has grown so dramatically in size and impact in the last decade that the League of Municipalities has formed a task force to study the community and its effect on the state in general.

The task force has met once, but its plans are ambitious. It will look at crowding, health and safety issues and the cost to municipalities of providing education, law enforcement, health care and other services to "substantial numbers of individuals who do not pay taxes."

New Jersey’s “underground economy” may be flourishing, but the legal one is anemic. According to State of New Jersey statistics, a total of 55,600 private sector jobs have been added in New Jersey since 2002, while state and local government jobs increased by 38,800 during the same time period.

New Jersey’s growth industry is government and its population growth is from illegal immigration. What a hell of a state for taxpayers.

Source: State of New Jersey Employment Information