The New Jersey Society of CPAs says reducing property taxes should be the top priority for the state's next governor.
The certified public accountants who were surveyed also want the state to focus on improving infrastructure, increasing the use of shared services by municipalities and school districts, auditing state agencies for overspending, and converting pubic pensions to 401k plans.
Ralph Thomas is the society's CEO. He believes the CPA's have a good read on what residents are worried about.
"I'm not surprised at any of the things here. I think they're things that we have heard anecdotally. That's why we did the survey to kind of hone in and lock in so that we could present some good information to the gubernatorial candidates."
Thomas believes a previous CPA survey on the estate tax helped convince lawmakers to enact
measures for a tax overhaul last year.