My property tax in New Jersey just went from $4000 to $10,000!!!!

[java]

They have LOST their minds.
Now every time something comes up for vote that will impact taxes it's voted DOWN in our town. The teachers have not had a contract for 3 years. They are looking for an increase-and really we can't afford it.
Our taxes are currently over $16,000. I don't think we can afford much more.
The problem is where to go? If everyone goes to NC the taxes there will have to go up to build all the schools they'll need.
What really burns me up is that we don't have "town services" like water or sewer or garbage pick up or even a police force! It's 85% school tax. I really think they are setting up for a revolt.

OP that's unbelievable. I am so very sorry. What is the rationale? are they reassing the houses? and really I want them to reassess us because the last time they did it was at the HEIGHT of the market about 5 years ago.
Good luck and FIGHT! Write letters to your congressman too! Forget Corizine. He's useless.

 

[mickeyboat]

A few years ago our town did a town-wide reassessment. Assessments had not been done in a long time, and people who built or recently renovated their homes were paying a higher proportion of property taxes than those who bought or lived in older homes.

The assessment brought everyone in line, so that property taxes were distributed fairly. Many people (us, included) saw a huge jump in property taxes (ours almost doubled). It sucked but it needed to be done.

Now assessments are done every few years.

Sorry about what happened to you, OP!

Denae

ETA - our home was reassessed last year and we filed a grievance because the assessment was not in line with others in our area. Turns out there was an error in the assesssment, and it ended up being lowered almost 18%.

 

[Kies99]

Don't you pay school property tax down there in Bethel Park? Sure, our county prop tax is $626, but then our township prop tax is $408, and our school prop tax is $2800, so about $3834 total. My house has a low assessed value, and others with 3-4X the house pay 3-4X more in taxes.

You beat me to my punch line!

I was going to come back later and say those were just the county taxes. All told it's well under 4K.

Yes, I bought a parking space which has its own mortgage payment.

Glad I don't have to pay for a parking space! I can fit 4 cars on my driveway and 1 in the garage.

 

[agnes!]

Amen KariBritt01! We're in Cabarrus County. We've got a 2,242 sq. ft. home with about an acre of land. We've lived here 3 years. November of last year the City of Concord annexed our neighborhood so now not only do we have to pay County taxes (which increased BTW) we have to pay City taxes. I think our total tax bill was about $13-14,000? ...

Ummmm...what?

They have LOST their minds.
Now every time something comes up for vote that will impact taxes it's voted DOWN in our town. The teachers have not had a contract for 3 years. They are looking for an increase-and really we can't afford it.
Our taxes are currently over $16,000. I don't think we can afford much more.
The problem is where to go? If everyone goes to NC the taxes there will have to go up to build all the schools they'll need.
What really burns me up is that we don't have "town services" like water or sewer or garbage pick up or even a police force! It's 85% school tax. I really think they are setting up for a revolt. ...

So tell me something...for all that $$$? How are your local schools doing?

agnes!

 

[allicat]

Same thing occured with my parents taxes in Ocean County. I believe they went up an additional $4,000 dollars this year. My Dad went to the town and tried to see what could be done but it boils down to unless you can afford to spend thousands of dollars on a lawyer, not much can be done.

 

[java]

Ummmm...what?



So tell me something...for all that $$$? How are your local schools doing?

agnes!

Well honestly the High school is GREAT! The elementary school also great.
Middle school- not so great. But they are working on it. It is criminal though to me that the Superintendant also held the postition of principal in the elementary school. He wanted to hire a principal. His salary was $180,000 when he did both jobs.
We voted. He lost and was told he could not hire someone. Then somehow he found a loophole and did it anyway! He kept his $180,000 and then hired a principal making $80,000. The administration is where the $$ is going. By the way he then retired.
The teacher union in NJ is killing us. (I love our teachers and many of them feel the same way about the union)

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

I hate how bad Ocean COunty is. We would love to look elsewhere but because I work for the County Im required to live here until I retire, which is not for another 17 years.

 

[ringaswan]

[we get STAR discount in NY though current administration is taking that away from us/QUOTE]

The STAR "discount" isn't being taken away in NY state, it's still there. However the STAR "rebate" that was mailed out in the fall is gone. The state couldn't afford the rebate in the first place (it was a political move in an attempt to buy votes), and the current pseudo-governor removed it from the budget.

Of course that savings went out the window during the NY Senate power-grabbing fiasco, coupled with the large legislative raises handed out to most staffers.

 

[Kathi OD]

I hate how bad Ocean COunty is. We would love to look elsewhere but because I work for the County Im required to live here until I retire, which is not for another 17 years.

Tell me what's so bad about Ocean County? It, along with Monmounth County, are consistently rated as one of the top 10 places to live in the country! With that comes an influx of people that requires more municipal and county services, which sadly translates to a need for more revenue.

My parents live in an Ocean County shore community. Their taxes are 1/2 what mine are in Burlington County on a property that has a resale value 5 times what mine has. For years the taxes there have been much lower than what others in the state are paying. At some point you've got to pay the piper, although it stinks that the increase came all at one time.

 

[sbell111]

OP-

Appeal your tax assessment. You don't need a lawyer to do this. All the information that you need can be found here.

 

[msmayor]

OP-

Appeal your tax assessment. You don't need a lawyer to do this. All the information that you need can be found here.

Assessments can be appealed, but the ship has most likely sailed on that until next year. Appeals generally must be filed by April 1 of the tax year or within 45 days of notification of the new assessed value (not notification of the new tax amount).

 

[meandmytwogirls]

This is why the entire northeast is eventually going to fill up the Carolinas. Hope the Carolinas have enough room for everyone!

It's nuts here in NJ. I know plenty of people paying $15,000-$20,000 in property taxes, and they are not living in mansions either. Ugh.

No thank you. The carolinas are already felling the ill effects of the yankee invasion.

 

[ICF]

I have a 3000 sq ft home in a suberb of the NW side of Indy. Our schools our near the top in the state...our property taxes this year was $1650.

 

[OhMari]

If people move to the Carolina's, do they still commute to NY and NJ?

In the midwest, we are loosing the value's on our homes. Our village has been doing assessments fairly often, and my taxes have increased almost yearly since we bought our home 22 years ago. I pay $4,000 for a 1600 sq. ft, 110 yr old home.
Presently, there are at least 6 homes for sale in my neighborhood, and none are selling. No one wants these old homes. I was talking to the realitor that had an open house next door, and she said she told the home owners to slash the price $30,000 and it might sell for $110,000, but she said they wouldn't do it.
My assesment on our home is $150,000, I'm waiting for the village to lower my value for taxes. We own 2 large lots surrounding our home and I think those lots are worth more than my home.

 

[bicker]

In the end, until people start insisting that states start cutting services, the money has to come from somewhere. People never want the money coming from them.

 

[daughtersrus]

Last year we got a notice saying that our assessed value was increasing again. It took some hard work researching information on line but I was able to find what I needed. I was prepared to file an appeal with our county but I didn't need to. I was able to speak with our assessor and he agreed to lower the value back to just about what it was the previous year.

My taxes still went up a bit but that is because the voters agreed to a referendum to build a new library.

We pay half of our taxes June 1st and the other half Sept 1st. When I went to the bank to pay mine I asked the teller what the highest she had seen. She told me that it was $12,000 and that was just the first payment! Ours are just under $6,000/year for a 2200sq ft house in a western suburb of Chicago but there are some homes less than a mile from us that are MUCH bigger! I just can't imagine paying over $24,000 a year in property taxes!

$6,000 is bad enough!

 

[onelilspark]

My property taxes are about half of what other comparable properties on this side of the county are.

I think it's because I live next to a gun club. Seriously, same kind of place 2 miles away pays double. If I have to put up with a little bit of noise on nice days to have lower taxes?
Ok by me!

 

[eliza61]

How on earth do people pay that!!???

I have 2100 sq feet on almost an acre, in a nice neighborhood with amazing public schools. I think we are at about 700.00 a yr. There is no way we could pay something like that ever. I guess the income levels are higher there?

I can't even imagine. I've live in south Jersey also. My property taxes are 10,000 grand a year, that's almost a grand a month extra on my mortgage. We are trying to last until my youngest, who will be a sophomore graduates from H.S. The nanosecond he does we are outta here.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

You guys are scaring me. I want to move to NC in about two years. Please leave some jobs open for DH and I!

 

[LisaNJ25]

I hate how bad Ocean COunty is. We would love to look elsewhere but because I work for the County Im required to live here until I retire, which is not for another 17 years.

I hear you. Hubby is a county employee.. We are not home owners and probably never will be in NJ. We are in Morris County. Some people on this thread pay more in taxes a year than we do in rent.