Monday, May 13, 2013
But Community Affairs chief says systemic reforms, cuts in total tax rate are key.
Assembly Democrats last week assailed Gov. Chris Christie for an 18.6 percent increase in net property taxes over the past three years, but Christie’s community affairs commissioner said long-term savings and cuts in overall tax rates are more important. Community Affairs commissioner Richard E. Constable III told the Assembly Budget Committee that the 2.4 percent growth in property taxes in 2011 and 1.6 percent rise last year were the smallest statewide hikes in 20 years and an improvement over an "increase of 70 percent in the 10 years before Governor Christie took office." But Democratic committee members disputed Constable’s view, citing a New Jersey Spotlight analysis showing that net property taxes -- the net cost of property taxes …
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Christie rebate cuts cause 22.4 percent increase in net property taxes that hits those making under $150,000.
Net property taxes in New Jersey rose 22.4 percent in Gov. Chris Christie's first three years in office, compared to just 6 percent in Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine's last three years in office, a New Jersey Spotlight analysis shows. Christie, who has made attacks on “Corzine Democrats” a centerpiece of his reelection campaign, has been touting his record of holding down overall property tax increases. But when Christie’s rebate reductions are factored in, his property tax record is not so clear-cut. While Corzine doubled average property tax rebates from 2006 to 2009 and provided rebates to families earning as much as $250,000, Christie sharply cut the size of rebate payments and limited eligibility for non-seniors to those earning $75,000 …
Saturday, September 1, 2012
The property tax burden needs to be reduced but not by simplistic solutions that concentrate on one part of the problem.
- OPINION
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Saturday, September 1, 2012
By Joel L. Naroff [Joel L. Naroff is the president and founder of Naroff Economic Advisors, a strategic economic consulting firm. He advises companies across the country on the risks and opportunities that economic developments may have on the organization’s operating environment. In 2011, he received the National Association for Business Economics Outlook Award as the top economic forecaster.] New Jersey’s property tax burden is a massive barrier to growth that borders on being confiscatory. But the discussion about changing the tax is filled with political bluster without much economic thinking. Before any solutions are proposed, it would be nice if we knew why New Jersey’s property taxes are so high compared with other states. If you …
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Property taxes dwarf state's major taxes; combined state-federal spending hits record $49 billion.
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, May 8, 2012
For the past three months, Republican Governor Chris Christie and Democratic legislative leaders have been trading charges over their rival plans to cut income and property taxes, over the governor’s claim that he has cut billions in state spending, and over the Christie administration’s projections that revenues will come in 7.5 percent higher next year despite $345 million in planned corporate and income tax cuts. Publicly, the biggest debate has been over whether to cut property taxes or income taxes, with polls consistently showing that New Jerseyans would prefer a property tax cut. It’s not surprising: The $26 billion that New Jerseyans will pay in property taxes next year is more than the total of state income taxes, sales taxes, …
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Township eliminates tax increase without cutting any services.
After months of work to reduce a municipal tax increase, the Township Council is expected to finalize a budget plan that will not raise the tax rate at tonight's meeting. Last month, the township introduced a $48.2 million budget with a 4 percent increase to the municipal portion of the tax bill, from 72 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 75 cents. The council has since reduced the 3-cent increase to 1.6 cents, and has now cut the budget to a zero increase. "I think this was very important for residents. There's a lot of unemployment problems and concerns with people's houses facing foreclosure, so things aren’t great in terms of the economy," said Mayor Frank Gambatese. "With the school tax rate increasing by 5-cents, it could've …
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Senate Democrats propose $1,000 tax credit, Assembly Democrats fund $2,000 credit with millionaire's tax.
- GOVERNMENT
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Thursday, March 8, 2012
Senate and Assembly Democratic leaders unveiled competing plans on Tuesday to provide property tax credits to those earning up to $250,000, but they were in full agreement on one thing: Republican Gov. Chris Christie's plan to cut income taxes 10 percent is dead. "Property tax relief is on its way. Income tax cuts to the wealthy are not going to be had in this budget," Senate President Stephen Sweeney declared in a morning radio interview. "I am not negotiating an income tax cut. I can tell you that right now." Both the Senate and the Assembly Democratic proposals would provide property tax relief though credits on state income tax returns – the method used by the Republican Whitman administration in the late 1990s – rather than through …
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Net affect of tax appeals by corporations resulted in the loss of over $100 million in ratables for South Brunswick.
As the recession continues to affect the number of new businesses opening across the state, the impact of tax appeals by existing businesses has resulted in a large chunk of lost revenue for South Brunswick. The success of South Brunswick companies in challenging their property values resulted in the loss of over $100 million in ratables last year, according to township officials. Approximately 100 companies successfully sued the township for a tax reduction last year, said Mayor Frank Gambatese. "Revenue is the major problem we're having," Gambatese said. "With the economy being the way it is and residential property values dropping, these corporations whose property values really don’t drop in a given year, what happens is they see the …
Friday, February 24, 2012
Christie commands network TV, but it's the inside game that counts.
- GOVERNMENT
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Friday, February 24, 2012
For Gov. Chris Christie, the politics of the budget is both an inside game and an outside game, one played inside the Beltway in Trenton and inside the TV studios that reach outside to the national audiences that keep Christie's name at the top of the once and future presidential and vice-presidential preference polls. And yesterday, one day after a budget speech that echoed with a triumphant Reaganesque "Morning in America" optimism, Christie was hard at work in both political arenas. Christie's ability to command the national media stage almost like a presidential candidate -- unprecedented for a New Jersey governor -- is a source of frustration for Democratic legislative leaders. Asked a question about Christie's intentions at the …
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Total state spending of $49.5 billion would pass Corzine for highest in NJ history.
- GOVERNMENT
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Thursday, February 23, 2012
Banking on booming revenues over the next 16 months, Governor Chris Christie yesterday proposed a $32.1 billion budget with a $1.1 billion spending increase that includes funding for the first stage of a promised 10 percent income tax cut, but provides less money for direct property tax relief than the year before. Christie’s treasurer, Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff, is projecting a surge in tax receipts this spring that will wipe out the current $325 million shortfall in state revenue projections for the current year, followed by such soaring growth in income and corporate taxes in Fiscal Year 2013 that state revenue collections will approach the record levels of pre-recession Fiscal Year 2008. In fact, Christie’s total state spending of $49.…
Monday, February 20, 2012
Worried about high property taxes in the Garden State? Here's why.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, February 20, 2012
High property taxes consistently rank as the biggest, or one of the biggest concerns of New Jersey voters. To find out how high they actually are, click the map here. It shows tax data for 2011 and how it has changed since 2009, or during the first two years of Gov. Chris Christie’s tenure. Data includes the total tax levy, total tax rate, average home value, and property tax bill on that average residence -- as well as the size of the average property tax rebate and the net average property tax bill when adjusted for that rebate. The two-year change is calculated for each. All information comes from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ property tax spreadsheets. A recent NJ Spotlight story revealed that the average property tax…
Chief Wahoo
10:30 am on Monday, May 13, 2013
Damn you math , why do you curse Christie so ????? more ›