Property Taxes

The funding formula was approved in 2008 and upheld by the courts, though it was only followed for a year. A task force could examine it for updates.

Gov. Phil Murphy said at his inaugural Tuesday that his second-term goals include making New Jersey “the Opportunity State” and lowering property taxes by increasing state aid to schools.

Property taxes in New Jersey climbed by nearly 2% again last year, restrained by the cap but still amounting to a $583 million tax hike.

“We will not. I pledge to not raise taxes,” Murphy said. “At any time in the next four years. But I’m not making news tonight. I’ve been saying this for the past year. The answer is I pledge to not raise taxes.”

NJ budgets $10M/year for a variety of grants to local governments to encourage shared services, with the goal of cutting or at least restraining the state’s tops-in-the-nation property tax bills.

“The current formula is nefarious. It’s arbitrary. It’s unfair. And I believe it’s unconstitutional,” he said.

63% of Garden State voters in a Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll say they're in favor of scrapping the $10,000 federal cap on state and local taxes that went into effect in 2017.

Homestead benefits will be updated so they are finally calculated on more recent property tax information, under a state budget agreement announced Monday.

Shared services to reduce spending is seen as one way to relieve some of the pressure on New Jersey's tops-in-the-nation property tax bills.

“Our collection rate was higher than we anticipated,” said Bridgeton Mayor Albert Kelly. “But as you said, the third quarter is what we’re really looking at and planning for.”