Major changes coming to property-tax relief process for NJ seniors

[NJCher]

by John Reitmeyer, Budget/Finance Writer | January 30, 2025 | Budget, Personal Finance

New, combined application form for three separate property-tax relief programs

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The debut of the combined application means seniors and disabled homeowners can for the first time in New Jersey seek benefits provided through the Anchor and Senior Freeze programs, as well as a promised new program called Stay NJ, without having to fill out separate applications for each program.

Murphy and lawmakers have been socking away hundreds of millions of dollars annually over the last few years to help pay for the initial rollout of the Stay NJ program.

Still, while the overhaul of the application process for seniors is rolling out, Treasury’s news release cautioned that the availability of funding for the next round of various property-tax relief benefits remains “subject to State Budget appropriations.”

On Feb. 25, Murphy, a second-term Democrat, is scheduled to present his plan for the state’s next annual budget to a joint session of the Legislature. The next budget must be in place for the July 1 start of the 2026 fiscal year or state government is required to shut down.

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Link to more.

[3Hotdogs]

1. That's nice. Meanwhile, retired public employees, teachers, fire fighters and cops haven't had a

cost of living raise to their pensions in 15 years.


DA FUCK?

[NJCher]

2. What are your taxes?

Mine are $20,000 a year. I need some help with property maintenance so I can stay in my house. If they grant this relief, I will be able to stay here. If not, I’ll have to raid my retirement funds to pay for the maintenance.

Then, if I ever need to live in assisted living, there might not be enough $$.

[3Hotdogs]

3. $16,900. Essex County.

Yes, I am not starving and I have a couple'a hundred left over at the end of the month.

The point is, we were REQUIRED to contribute to the pension fund. This was in exchange for a promised, lifetime pension, paid medical AND cost of living increase.

If the contribution wasn't mandatory, we could have put it in S & P and DJ index funds and would have been better off.

Whitman borrowed from the fund in order to avoid a tax increase. She promised to repay the money. She didn't.

Christie, and succeeding governors were supposed to contribute to the pension fund in order to stabilize it. This was not done until Murphy's administration.

What is frustrating, is when we read about state giveaway programs: some good, some harebrained. Instead of the money being used to fulfill the state's contractual obligation to the pensioners.

[NJCher]

4. Reagan borrowed from Social Security and never paid it back

So did another president; just can't remember which one.
Most states do something for their seniors to prevent them from having to move away from family. This is happening all the time now. I'm in a union, too, and as our members retire, they move elsewhere because the tax burden is so high.
One teacher, who lived in Westfield, sold her ordinary middle-class home for a million and moved to Virginia. That's the exception, though. I haven't heard of many stories like that.
I was the executor for my aunt's estate and she had a home in Park Ridge, IL. Her taxes were half of what everyone else's were because of a senior tax program.