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BY BOB HOLT
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Your property taxes were even worse than you thought last year. New Jersey's taxpayers paid out nearly $1 billion more on their bills in 2010.
The old 4 percent tax hikes raised the average property tax bill in the state by $295 to $7,576.
According to NorthJersey.com, in North Jersey, property tax bills went up on average even more in 2010; to $10,057 in Bergen County, and $8,459 in Passaic County.
The Asbury Park Press reports it is the largest increase since 2007, when taxes spiked 7.3 percent.
The state's 566 municipal governments saw the sharpest tax increase at 7.1 percent - the same towns that are now facing a 2 percent cap on their taxes this year. School taxes rose 3.3 percent and county taxes rose 1.5 percent last year.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie last year signed a measure capping growth in the taxes as of Jan. 1 at 2 percent unless local governments ask voters for permission for a bigger increase. The law also exempted higher levies to cover bond payments, increased health-insurance or pension costs and natural disasters.
Already at least 12 New Jersey communities want to exceed his 2 percent cap, reported Bloomberg.com, less than three months after it took effect.
The communities placed advertisements in newspapers alerting voters to referendums in April, Bill Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities said yesterday in an e-mail. Towns readying for the referendums included Brick and Edgewater Park, he said.
Towns scheduled to hold referendums, according to the League of Municipalities are Brick, Edgewater Park, Florence, Hardwick, Hope Township, Lambertville, Plumsted, Mansfield, Maurice River, Mount Holly, Mount Laurel, and Northvale.
The governor has urged lawmakers to pass his 33-point “toolkit” of measures designed to help local governments meet the new standards. While lawmakers have approved a measure capping police and fire arbitration awards, they have yet to approve most of the package.
The revenue from state property taxes pays for public schools, prompt trash and snow removal, 911 dispatching and emergency services, neighborhood police patrols, libraries, senior centers and many other local services. Local governments spent a combined $42.6 billion in 2010 to deliver those services, well above the state's $29.4 billion budget.
