With the deadline for New Jersey ANCHOR property-tax relief about a week behind us, we can pause and reflect on what we are getting relief from.
New Jersey counties face the highest median property tax bills in the nation. A study in August from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Tax Foundation found that NJ counties, particularly those in North Jersey, have among the highest median tax bills among the 3,230 counties and county equivalents.
And what consumes the most from our property tax dollar?
Schools.
An average (median) of 55% of every property tax dollar in New Jersey goes to school districts, regional school districts and local schools, according to a 70and73.com analysis of 2023 Abstracts of Ratables from each county.
Shamong Township in Burlington County in 2023 held the record for the whole state: About 81% of its local property tax collection goes to its local school district and the Lenape Regional High School District.
Municipalities in the 70and73.com area with school contributions well above the 55% state average (median) in 2023 included Medford (72%), Mount Laurel (69%), Moorestown (67%), Evesham (67%), Medford Lakes (66%) and Cherry Hill (62%). Voorhees' school share is below the state average, at 53%.
Many factors impact the amount a municipality collects in property taxes.
"If it costs more to deliver local government services and programs and to educate our public school kids or if the state and federal governments impose new demands on local institutions and/or reduce funding back to local government, all else being equal, your tax bill gets bigger," according to "A Short and Simple Glimpse at the Property Tax in New Jersey" by the New Jersey State League of Municipalities. "If your local governments and school districts cannot count on other revenues keeping pace with inflation, all else being equal, your tax bill gets bigger."
Since the mid-1990s, the municipalities organization has advocated for its version of property tax reform by shifting school costs to broad-based state taxes rather than local property taxes.
The analysis of school taxes first appeared in our acrossnj.com weekly newsletter. To sign up for free, go to acrossnj.com. Besides our own reporting, we curate the most interesting news from about 75 reliable news sites across New Jersey.
Some of the burden has shifted as state aid to schools has grown. Programs like ANCHOR and the new NJ Stay program also reduce the emphasis on property taxes.
"School funding using the property tax is regressive and should be replaced by a more progressive method, i.e., ability to pay based upon annual income," according to one league position paper.
