New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has pledged to change New Jersey’s reputation for high taxes. Judging by a report released Wednesday by the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, the state has a long way to go.

New Jersey residents were the highest-taxed in the country in 2009, giving 12.2 percent of their income to state and local taxes.

Wednesday’s report covers former Gov. Jon Corzine’s last full year in office, and it was New Jersey’s third consecutive year with the dubious honor.

The Tax Foundation, a tax research group with a conservative bent, calculates the ranking by dividing the total amount of taxes paid by residents by the state’s total income.

(Source: NJ.com)