Empirically - NJ Property Taxes have Skyrocketed (its not just you)

Category: Tax Law and Planning

From the New Jersey Star Ledger January 7, 2007:

Property taxes balloon despite push to reform: "As lawmakers scrambled to enact a property tax reform plan last year, the problem grew by a record $1.4 billion, a Star-Ledger analysis has found.

Local government agencies hit landowners with a $20.9 billion levy in 2006, of which $15.4 billion was billed to homeowners. That pushed the average residential tax bill up 6.8 percent to $6,170 -- an increase of $390.

In the mid-1990s, the state's property tax levy -- the total amount collected to run local government and schools -- took three years to rise by a similar amount. But with costs increasing and aid from Trenton relatively flat, local officials have passed more than a billion dollars of their costs onto landowners every year since 2002.

The largest increase prior to 2006 was $1.2 billion in 2003."

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"In 2000, only six communities had an average property tax bill over $10,000. Now, homeowners in 55 towns can expect to pay five-figures to support schools, police and other local services, according to the analysis."

A proposed solution is: "The short-term fix is a tax credit of up to 20 percent for those earning $100,000 or less, with smaller reductions for those earning between $100,000 and $250,000." However, the dollar limitations on income are likely to mean that those with the 5 figure tax bills will not see any real relief.