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

[OctMtnWoods]

Even the $4000 a year sounds crazy to me. I can't imagine $10,000.

 

[MamaLema]

I guess I have to sell my house. Ocean county NJ is out of control. They must think all the middle class people living here can afford such a crazy tax hike! All the neighbors got together and hired a lawyer, but i really doubt this will help. At first we were got an increase from $4000 to $7200 but our tax bill came in the mail saying it was going to $10,000. I can see alot of for sale signs going up in the next few weeks, but i'm wondering who can afford these taxes.

I just want to say

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Even the $4000 a year sounds crazy to me. I can't imagine $10,000.

The money to run the government has to come from somewhere. The problem is that New Jersey is spending a lot of money. Since 2000, their state expenses have grown about 68% but the state's GDP has only increased 40%. That's a big gap that can only be made up with higher taxes. Given that there is a projected $3.6 Billion deficit in 2009 and a $7 Billion deficit in 2010, taxes will have to go even higher if spending isn't cut.

Tell your representatives to cut spending or be prepared to pay still more. NJ has the highest tax level in the US. Maybe it has the best services and it's people think it's worth the money.

 

[JoiseyMom]

The money to run the government has to come from somewhere. The problem is that New Jersey is spending a lot of money. Since 2000, their state expenses have grown about 68% but the state's GDP has only increased 40%. That's a big gap that can only be made up with higher taxes. Given that there is a projected $3.6 Billion deficit in 2009 and a $7 Billion deficit in 2010, taxes will have to go even higher if spending isn't cut.

Tell your representatives to cut spending or be prepared to pay still more. NJ has the highest tax level in the US. Maybe it has the best services and it's people think it's worth the money.

We don't have the best services and it's not worth the money!! I will not be voting for Corzine this year!!

 

[MusiqChic99]

I live in small town USA and on occasion I hate it. However when I read threads like this or what people pay for utilities then I'm very thankful. I have a decent job for my area but most people would think $1500 for taxes would be high.

So sorry to hear about this. I dont know how they expect some people to live.

 

[jillyb]

Ummmm...what?

Oops...brain fart! Our total combined taxes for 2008 was $1,800. We have to pay County and City taxes, which I think is redonkulous.

 

[Kathi OD]

We don't have the best services and it's not worth the money!! I will not be voting for Corzine this year!!

Jon Corzine is not the root of the problem(and I'm no Corzine lover). NJ taxes were sky-high compared to the rest of country before he took office. He just promised to do something that couldn't be done and now he's paying the price. He was a political neophyte and had no clue how strong the monster he had to fight was.

Don't think that Chris Christie, or any other single person can fix the fiscal mess that NJ finds itself in. The real beast is the state legislature. Get rid of all of them, start anew, and we just might have a chance.

As far as services are concerned, DH and I moved to NJ from PA 4 years ago. We have much better services on this side of the river, for comparatively less tax money. The level of services you get is more a result of local, rather than state, government.

 

[jel0511]

I guess I have to sell my house. Ocean county NJ is out of control. They must think all the middle class people living here can afford such a crazy tax hike! All the neighbors got together and hired a lawyer, but i really doubt this will help. At first we were got an increase from $4000 to $7200 but our tax bill came in the mail saying it was going to $10,000. I can see alot of for sale signs going up in the next few weeks, but i'm wondering who can afford these taxes.

Is it possible that you've undergone a reassessment? If you have you could challenge the reassessment. Since all your neighbors have also gone up, I"m guessing your township reassessed everyone. When was the last time you were assessed? They legally can reassess every 10 years, some do it every 10 years, others don't. Unless your township has assessments tied to market values, then they can't do a major reassessment like that. Look into that. My brother lived in Ocean Cty and a few years ago got reassessed and challenged it and got his taxes lowered, not to their previous levels, but it was something....

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.

That's me!!!!

 

[manning]

You need to vote Illinois (chicago) style to get the crooks out of office. Vote early and vote often.

 

[C.Ann]

I would drop dead on the spot - I kid you not!!

The house that I used to own (with less land than I have here) was running around $2500 a year - in 2005.. Have no idea what it has risen to now.. I had no "services" to speak of - no sewer, no garbage pick-up, etc..

Here at the lake - with a large extra lot and a yearly permit for a private beach - my total taxes (school and land combined) are $363 a year! Granted, my place is very small - and not suited for year-round use - but my neighbor across the road has a year-round place (much larger than mine) on a piece of property about the size of my former home, with a private beach access as well - and his total taxes are just a little over $500 a year.. We don't have sewer or public water here, but we do have free garbage pick-up and the roads are maintained better here than they were at my previous home.. This town has consistently had the lowest taxes in the 5 surrounding counties for years now..

Given those numbers, it's easy to see why I have chosen to make this my permanent legal address.. I couldn't even rent an apartment for what it costs me to live here!!

I don't know how people are handling these tremendous tax increases.. I'm constantly worried that the taxes at my DD's home (where I live 5 months out of the year) are suddenly going to go through the roof.. If they do, she and her family might just be forced into moving up here - leaving her DH with a 120-mile round trip to work every day.. I mean - what are people to do? You purchase a home you can well afford and then something happens like what has happened to the OP here.. It's crazy!!

 

[Golf4food]

Got to love the logic of local governemnts - revenues are down because taxes have caused so many people to move out into neighboring counties. How to make up the difference? Raise the taxes even higher! But wait, that just drives MORE people to move out into neighborhing counties, causing revenues to drop again. How to make up the difference? Raise the taxes even higher! But wait, that just...

And always picking on property owners instead of spreading the hurt amongst everyone that uses services. There's evidently a law here in Florida that sales taxes increases on a county level can only be used on infrastructure (road construction) projects, so you can just add a 1/2 cent sales tax so that everyone shares the burden - no you just raise property taxes so that only home owners have to pay any extra for the services that everyone in the county uses. It aught to be considered disciminatory against homeowners past a certain point.

 

[bicker]

What makes you believe that raising property taxes will chase people away any more than raising income and sales taxes would.

 

[SCHBR'smom]

I'm in Texas. Our property tax is $10,800 per year. Of course, we do not have a state income tax. Everyone I know budgets between $700-$1000 per month for property taxes.

I think that depends on where you live. I have a 2900 sq ft house on 1.3 acres, my taxes are less than $5000 a year. I live in a more rural area. My DSIL lives in a more urban area, she has a 2400 sq ft house with a teeny tiny yard (you can shake your neighbor's hand from your windows), and she pays similar taxes. It all depends on your location in Texas, being such a big state, there is a wide range of everything.

 

[Cindy B]

I can't believe there's someone still in Jersey who's been paying $4000/yr for property taxes. All of my inlaws are in Jersey and they all pay triple that and up. It is crazy. I agree with you that it's hard on the middle class.

I'm in NJ and I pay $4200 year. Yes, it is still possible, especially in S. Jersey!

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

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.

Oh don't get me wrong, I LOVE my town. I have lived here my whole life. Im 5 miinutes from the beach, 20 minutes to AC and in the middle of everything. Its just how much it all costs.

 

[ozarkmom]

We have 2200 sq ft. on 5 acres and pay about 600.00 per year.

 

[sorul82?]

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

Are we ever......

 

[sorul82?]

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

Sorry, our reported unemployment is 11%. Oh, and our lovely budget is close to being passed. Included is a 2% penalty for those who owe state withholding taxes.

 

[j's m]

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.

My DS will be a sophomore, too, and that's what we plan to do. I just hope that the real estate market will turn around in 3 years, and we can unload our house. Our tax bill just came, it only went up a few hundred dollars, but it was already over 13,000.

 

[Caradana]

I really don't blame Corzine. He feels like an easy scapegoat because he's "there" and a highly visible figure to blame, but taxes have always been high here, continue to be high, and will be high until we all die.

Corzine rose through the ranks to become CEO of Goldman Sachs, which was, and is, unequivocally, one of the greatest companies in the land. The guy understands money, budgets and administration. He gets the problem. He's a blow-the-lights-out-smart guy. His Achilles' heel has always been politics.

I agree with earlier posters who say that he didn't understand the scale of the tax beast he faced upon election. At GS, if he had a bad problem, he could - in one day - fire the cause, restructure, forecast financial impact, rally the remaining troops and go home. He did this regularly. He has no such ability to do anything like that in state government.

In the State of New Jersey, there's no way to unload incompetence or ineptitude, most of which is union-protected (I am pro-union in many cases, but not when it totally impedes meritocracy or self-motivation). State salaries are so low that people who could earn more in the private sector choose to do so, leaving behind a lower average level of talent, requiring more state employees to do the same amount of work, and the effect snowballs. Lobbyists rule. Precedent rules. Nepotism rules. Egoism rules. Tiny towns with tiny schools and hugely expensive services rule. Duplicate services at the local, county and state level burn through our cash. Newark, Camden, and Abbott districts are literal cash vacuums. Values rule - we do things like preserve land and provide special education, because it's the right thing to do, even though it costs money - a lot of money. Lots of forces far more powerful than prudent fiscal discretion rule in the state of New Jersey.

So why does New Jersey have the highest population density in the US? Because despite all of this, it's still an amazingly attractive place to live! Beaches, mountains, NYC, Philly, AC, horse farms, Fortune 500, country, city, culture, history, and some of the best school districts in America. New Jersey is a microcosm of many of the most beautiful aspects of living in America. If that means that I pay more in taxes - OK. Living in NJ has also provided me access to high-wage jobs. It has one of the highest average per-capita incomes in the world. The GDP of NJ exceeds that of most of the world's nations. With the right inputs, you can self-make a fortune in NJ. It is clearly easier to do here than it is in a state with a less vibrant economy. The news is not all bad.

My $0.02.