Posted on

THAW FOR SENIOR FREEZE PROPERTY-TAX RELIEF FROZEN OUT OF 2018 BUDGET

Ridgewood Realestate

JOHN REITMEYER | JULY 31, 2017

Many NJ seniors won’t qualify for property-tax reimbursement because program was capped at $70K following Great Recession — and that’s where the cap remains

A recent poll of New Jersey voters indicated the top issue this gubernatorial election year is the state’s notoriously high property taxes. Ever-rising property tax bills are also a particularly troubling issue for the state’s senior citizens because many are living on fixed incomes.

Yet the most recent state budget signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie earlier this month included fine print written quietly into budget documents that will keep many seniors from being able to collect sizable reimbursement checks that are offered through one of the state’s most popular property-tax relief programs.

The budget language effectively overrides the state law that funds the “senior freeze” Property Tax Reimbursement Program by lowering the program’s annual income cap from near $90,000 to $70,000. The cost-cutting measure started as the state faced deep budget problems in the wake of the Great Recession, but it has been maintained ever since even as revenue collections have now rebounded.

In the past, Democratic lawmakers have tried to block the income-cap change, but Christie, a second-term Republican, has used the line-item veto pen to override their wishes. But this year, Democrats prioritized increased funding for local school districts and several other programs in a budget showdown with Christie, leaving the frozen senior-freeze income cap in place for another year. That means it will likely be up to the state’s next governor to determine whether New Jersey seniors will eventually be made whole.

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/17/07/30/thaw-for-senior-freeze-property-tax-relief-frozen-out-of-2018-budget/