While New Jersey homeowners may not enjoy paying the nation’s highest property taxes, some of the state’s leading subject-matter experts have joined forces to help residents better understand what goes into those record-high bills.
A 16-page “Homeowner’s Guide to Property Taxes,” published online by groups representing the state’s accountants, realtors and municipal-tax assessors, uses charts and diagrams to walk residents through key topics related to New Jersey’s broader property tax system.
This year the guide includes a new outline of state-funded property-tax relief programs, which now provide millions of homeowners and renters in New Jersey with annual rebates that can total well over $1,000 for many recipients.
The guide also includes details on how local property taxes are calculated, when bills are due and where the money raised from property taxes ultimately goes. Readers can also see a calendar for homeowners and a list of frequently asked questions, among other key information.
First published in 2018, the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants, the New Jersey Realtors and the Association of Municipal Assessors of New Jersey issued an updated version of their online guide earlier this week.
“At a time when property taxes are a central concern for homeowners across the state, giving residents the tools to understand how their tax bills are calculated, what the money pays for and what rights they have as taxpayers is a meaningful contribution to civic literacy,” said the report’s author, Marc Pfeiffer, who is one of the state’s leading experts on property taxes.
“Informed citizens make better decisions and ask better questions of their government,” said Pfeiffer, a former official at the state Department of Community Affairs who now serves as the associate director of the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
In New Jersey, more than $36 billion was raised from property owners last year, all to support spending by local school districts and municipal and county governments, NJ Spotlight News reported earlier this month, citing comprehensive data compiled by the Department of Community Affairs.
More than half of the revenue raised through local property taxes last year went to K-12 public school districts, totaling $18.8 billion, according to the state data.
Another $10.8 billion went to support municipal government budgets and other local services, and nearly $6.5 billion went to support county government spending.
For homeowners, the property tax bills levied in New Jersey rose last year, on average, by $475, according to the state data. The year-over-year increase pushed the average property tax bill up to $10,570, setting another statewide record.
Over the last decade, the average property tax bill in New Jersey has gone up by nearly 25%, according to an NJ Spotlight News analysis of the state data.
And in the latest state-by-state comparisons published earlier this month by WalletHub, New Jersey was once again ranked as the state with the nation’s highest property taxes.
In response to concerns about affordability and rising property taxes, state policymakers in recent years have significantly increased funding for direct property-tax relief, while also bringing online altogether new rebate programs like Anchor and Stay NJ.
The updated guide highlights the new relief programs, as well as the longstanding Senior Freeze program that benefits thousands of senior and disabled homeowners annually.
The same section of the guide also links to the state Department of the Treasury’s Division of Taxation website to help homeowners determine if they qualify for benefits through these and other programs.
The updated guide also outlines the ways in which revenue raised from property taxes is disbursed, including money that is dedicated, by law, for specific purposes, such as municipal library operations and open space preservation.
And while it’s geared toward homeowners, the guide makes clear that property taxes are also a key concern for New Jersey tenants, who indirectly pay property taxes through their monthly rent.
“When calculating rents, landlords will normally factor in the taxes on the property as one of the costs they recover from their tenants,” the guide says.