Tag: property taxes

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NJBIA: With New Taxes Considered, New Jersey Faltering in Key Economic Areas

Phill Murphy -Sara Medina del Castillo

June 9,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, Tax increases being considered by state policymakers this budget season would hit areas of New Jersey’s economy that are already challenged, an analysis by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association finds.

New research shows that New Jersey now has a net loss of nearly $25 billion in Adjusted Gross Income over the past 12 years, is poised to become the worst state in the nation for Corporate Business Tax (CBT), and is lagging in the rate of millionaire growth in the region.
“This concerning data should serve as fair warning to our policymakers that higher CBT, millionaires or sales taxes, on top of the cumulative costs from our recent and increasing business mandates, are only giving our business owners and residents more reason to leave our great state,” said NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka. “And if they aren’t leaving, they’re certainly not planning to grow here.
“This analysis speaks to our declining competitiveness in the region and the nation. We need to improve our state’s economy through comprehensive planning, rather than excessive taxation. This is the only way to reclaim our regional competitiveness and to reverse the disturbing trend of outmigration from New Jersey.”
ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME
According to the most up-to-date Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data for tax year 2015-2016, New Jersey experienced a net loss in po­tential Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $3.5 billion. This exceeds the average annual rate loss of approximately $2.1 billion over the past 12 years. The change is driven by taxpayers moving out of state and taking their incomes with them.
An NJBIA analysis of the IRS’s Statistics of Income Inflow and Outflow data, finds that from tax year 2004-2005 to 2015-2016, New Jersey experienced a total loss of $24.9 billion in potential AGI.
Since tax year 2004-2005, New Jersey has now gained $66.5 billion in AGI, but lost $91.4 billion.
“This is critical income that has been lost to New Jersey’s general fund for more than a decade,” Siekerka said. “The economic impact that this loss has on the state’s economy is irrefutable and it will worsen if taxes are increased even more.”
CORPORATE BUSINESS TAX
New Jersey currently has the sixth highest corporate income tax rate (9 percent) in the United States, while Pennsylvania ranks second (9.99 percent). If New Jersey’s rate on corporations earning a net income of $1 million increases to 12 percent, as proposed, New Jersey would tie Iowa for the highest corporate income tax rate in the nation.
Meanwhile, regional competitors New York (6.5 percent) and Massachusetts (8 percent) have decreased their CBT and currently have the most competitive rates in the region.
An NJBIA analysis, utilizing 2015 data, determined that 2,373 New Jersey companies would have been impacted by the proposed surcharge. Of those, 86 percent (2,033 companies) earned between $1 million and $10 million in net allocated income.

The remaining 14 percent earning more than $10 million (340 companies) accounted for nearly 73 percent ($14.89 billion) of total allocated net income for all companies earning $1 million or more in 2015.

“While most states have either reduced or maintained their corporate tax rates, New Jersey is poised to go in the wrong direction,” Siekerka said. “Some studies link an increase in CBT to a reduction in employment and income and a decrease in CBT to quicker job creation. A CBT surcharge would only incentivize our larger corporations to expand their operations elsewhere. And if they’re stagnating here, that’s just as bad as outmigration for New Jersey.”
MILLIONAIRES TAX
A proposed “millionaires tax” provision in the FY 2019 budget would increase the top income tax rate from 8.97 percent to 10.75 percent on income above $1 million.
An NJBIA analysis found that while the number of returns for New Jersey businesses filing $1 million or more increased between 2000 and 2015, New Jersey grew at a slower rate in this category than three regional competitors – including Pennsylvania and New York. In addition, New Jersey’s total AGI for businesses filing $1 million or more ranked fifth out of seven regional states.

“Millionaires have grown around the nation during a time of economic upswing, but New Jersey’s percent change of growth is slower than most of our regional competitors,” Siekerka said. “We should be wary of our tax policies making New Jersey more dependent on the highest income earners who are being given more reasons to consider leaving the state.
Between 2010 and 2015, New Jersey’s number of businesses filing $1 million or more ranked second in the region. But tellingly, New Jersey ranked sixth out of seven regional states in total AGI growth.
The story is similar for New Jersey individuals filing a tax return of $1 million or more. When analyzing data from 2010 to 2015, New Jersey ranked third in the region in this category, but only fifth out of seven in the percentage change of total AGI. In fact, Massachusetts surpassed the Garden State in total AGI from individual millionaires in 2014 and 2015, despite having nearly 3,500 fewer filings of $1 million and more.
“NJBIA continues to call for comprehensive tax and regulatory reform to fix our structural budget deficits,” Siekerka said. “We need our policymakers to pause until the State Tax Policy Working Group, created by Senate President Steve Sweeney, and the Economic Growth Council, created by Gov. Murphy, complete their work and advance comprehensive recommendations. We need them to plan and adopt long-term, sustainable solutions rather than attempt to tax our way out of fiscal challenges.”

Sources:
An NJBIA Analysis of SOI IRS, 2004-2015
AN NJBIA Analysis of SOI IRS Migration Data, 2004 to 2005- 2015 to 2016
J. Walczak, S. Drenkard, J. Bishop-Henchman. (2018). 2018 State Business Tax Climate Index. Tax Foundation.
Office of Revenue and Economic Analysis. (Jan. 2017). New Jersey Corporation Business Tax Statistical Report. Office of the Chief Economist.
R. McGrath. (Mar. 2018). SWEENEY PROPOSES LANDMARK $758M SCHOOL FUNDING REFORM UNDERWRITTEEN BY RECAPTURING FEDERAL CORPORATE WINDFALL. New Jersey Senate Democrats. Press Release.
P. Murphy, S. Oliver. (March 2018). The Governor’s FY 2019 Budget: Budget in Brief. Office of Management and Budget.
State Government Websites

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New Jersey , is taxing people out their homes

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file photo by Boyd Loving

May 23,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, shades of the Garden States future , Illinois is losing more citizens than nearly every other state, and according to reports, the biggest reason citizens are leaving is that they can no longer afford to live in the Land of Lincoln.

In Illinois like New Jersey , the major reason people leave  is because the state is simply taxing them out of their homes, according to Chicago’s WGN TV.Illinois lost 33,703 citizens to outward migration last year. In 2016, the state lost another 37,508 people. A report by the Chicago Tribune also noted that Chicago has been a net loser of its citizens for the last three years running. And the surrounding county were also a net loser of its population.

Changes in federal tax law , have made it exceedingly expensive to live in high tax states like  New Jersey .

Will Governor Murphy’s massive tax increases , and forced over development , be the straw to break the camels back and locally will the massive new $110 million school budget ,plus millions in school bond financing   finally force the last tax payers to head for the hills ?

Will this years school year end with massive flight from town?

 

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New Jersey’s Fiscal Apocalypses May Finally Be Here

Phill Murphy -Sara Medina del Castillo

May 22,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, , In a new report, Moody’s Investors Service described New Jersey’s April income tax collections, which were down 1 percent from last year, as an outlier and “weaker than expected.” NJ Treasurer Elizabeth Muoio told the Assembly Budget Committee on Monday. “A reality check on the urgent need for new revenues.”

Both Democrat and Republican leadership in both houses of the state Legislature say they’re opposed to those tax hikes, and they’re now firmly in the position of having to come up with $1.5 billion in cash or slashing as much to keep the budget in balance.

The ugly reality is that increases taxes ill continue to erode the already shrunken tax base in New Jersey .

While the Murphy Administration has promised a wild spending spree with no visible budget cuts anywhere else and the pace of taxpayer exodus from New Jersey has quickened ,Holly Schepisi , New Jersey State Assemblywoman for District 39 , “While wanting to create programs such as free community college, expansion of financial programs and aid, raising salaries and providing retroactive pay increases may be laudable progressive goals of Governor Murphy, New Jersey is in a real financial crisis necessitating a combination of budget cuts, large scale reforms to our pension and health system and a restructuring of our entire tax code and school funding mechanisms. Our legislature must work in a bipartisan manner and have the intestinal fortitude to do what is needed in order for our State to become fiscally healthy. Then, and only then, should conversations regarding the Governor’s proposed increases in spending take place.”

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New Jersey is dead last in fiscal health based on its fiscal solvency

Phill Murphy -Sara Medina del Castillo

May 11,2018

the staff of the Ridewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, according to the The Mercatus Center at George Mason University ,New Jersey is dead last in fiscal health based on its fiscal solvency. At the end of the year, it is a toss up to whether or not New Jersey has enough money to pay its bills. These high costs are unsustainable and we need reform to get New Jersey back on a better path.

#50 | Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition: New Jersey

Eileen Norcross , Vice President of Policy Research

Olivia Gonzalez ,Research Associate

Summary

On the basis of its fiscal solvency in five separate categories, New Jersey is ranked 50th among the US states for its fiscal health. On a short-run basis, New Jersey has between 84 percent and 211 percent of the cash needed to cover short-term obligations. Revenues cover 91 percent of expenses, and net position decreased by $678 per capita in FY 2015. On a long-run basis, New Jersey’s metrics are dire. A net asset ratio of −2.92 points to a heavy reliance on debt and large unfunded obligations. Long-term liabilities are 360 percent of total assets, or $16,821 per capita, which is the highest among the states. Total primary government debt is $44.23 billion, or 8.3 percent of state personal income, far above the average for the US states. Unfunded pension liabilities, on a guaranteed-to-be-paid basis, are $224 billion, or 42 percent of state personal income. OPEB is 15 percent of state personal income, the highest ratio in the states.

Key Terms

Cash solvency measures whether a state has enough cash to cover its short-term bills, which include accounts payable, vouchers, warrants, and short-term debt. (New Jersey ranks 37th.)
Budget solvency measures whether a state can cover its fiscal year spending using current revenues. Did it run a shortfall during the year? (New Jersey ranks 49th.)
Long-run solvency measures whether a state has a hedge against large long-term liabilities. Are enough assets available to cushion the state from potential shocks or long-term fiscal risks? (New Jersey ranks 50th.)
Service-level solvency measures how high taxes, revenues, and spending are when compared to state personal income. Do states have enough “fiscal slack”? If spending commitments demand more revenues, are states in a good position to increase taxes without harming the economy? Is spending high or low relative to the tax base? (New Jersey ranks 24th.)
Trust fund solvency measures how much debt a state has. How large are unfunded pension liabilities and OPEB liabilities compared to the state personal income? (New Jersey ranks 39th.)

For a complete explanation of the methodology used to calculate New Jersey’s fiscal health rankings, download the full paper and the dataset at mercatus.org/statefiscalrankings.

To read all our work on New Jersey, go to mercatus.org/states/newjersey.

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Ridgewood Board of Education Passes Massive $110,000,000 School Budget

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file photo by Boyd Loving

May 8,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, as expected the Ridgewood Board of Education passed a massive budget increase of 4.3%, your tax hit is 3.6%. Two members of the board had great suggestions, and the other three don’t seem to care  what public say had to say . All three need to be replaced and have needed replacement for some time .

During the presentation, they basically the BOE took 2% is for granted, but needed to justify 1.62% which is above 2%.
They killed the ridiculous windows project, but replaced it with different capital projects.
James Morgan tabled an amendment to the budget, in which these two newly added items were not a priority, so they can probably wait until the referendum, and let’s keep the budget under 2%. His amendment was defeated 3-2.

They spent a lot of time pretending they were cost focused as usual , which no one believes but frankly its school performance that’s lacking  .

College-Ready Student Performance :
High school students take AP® exams to earn college credit and demonstrate success at college-level course work. U.S. News calculated a College Readiness Index based on AP exam participation rates and percentages of students passing at least one AP exam. The index determined which types of medals (gold, silver or bronze) were awarded to top-performing schools. College Readiness Index 53.6

 

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Reader says Ridgewood Public Schools has gone down the toilet since I move in and yet, I pay more and more each year

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I moved in 30 years ago, years before I had kids. I’m still here after my kids have left RPS. My taxes have quadrupled but I’m still paying. I worked full time when my kids were young. and I paid good money for kindergarten enrichment. My kids are successful despite not having full day kindergarten . . . why did people think free kindergarten baby sitting was the way to go. There’s no reason to have full day K in our socioeconomic cohort. Just because I want to dump my brats and go to yoga and lunch is not a good reason for full day kindergarten (and no, I don’t hink our real estate value was in jeopardy because we didnt have full day K. No self respecting Mommy around here works). Lots of waste. at the BoE and I just want some form of reasonable increases directed at quality education (BTW . . . RPS has gone down the toilet since I move in and yet, I pay more and more each year) . I can well afford to live here but really don’t want to continue to allow the BoE to spend foolishly. Very little of the proposed increase are going toward classroom and education goals; have you looked at the budget or is your smarmy ass head stuck in the sand?

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Acting Commissioner of Education Lamont Repollet said he recognizes the need for modernizing the school funding formula

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April 23,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, In his opening statement to the Senate Budget Committee, Acting Commissioner of Education Lamont Repollet said he recognizes the need for modernizing the school funding formula by addressing adjustment aid and growth caps. “I stand with the governor to work with this body to work on statutory adjustments to the school aid formula,” said Repollet.

But Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-36) still wanted more detail.“Any reason why the [$37.4 billion] budget was introduced without a discussion of adjustment aid and growth caps?” A final budget will have to include reworking both, Sarlo said.
“Are you prepared to have these difficult conversations with these school districts that are receiving more than 100 percent in state aid?” the senator wanted to know.

Repollet responded to Sarlo by saying he and the Governor are willing to rework and begin to modernize the formula now.

“The governor’s committed to working with this legislative body,” the acting commissioner said. “A conversation is going on right now with the legislative leaders.”

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2018 Introductory Vilage of Ridgewood Budget

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April 15,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, According to Councilman Ramon M Hache in his  April newsletter, “The month of March brought some severe weather. We saw a significant amount of snowfall accompanied with hazardous road conditions. The March 21 Budget Meeting was rescheduled due to the nor’easter that made its way to our area the night before. Despite the scheduling setback, we managed to conclude our budget hearings before the end of the month.
2018 Municipal Budget”

Hache goes on , “The budget process is never easy, especially in an age of budget caps that are below the rate of inflation. Basically we have to, at a minimum, deliver the same level of services every year with a limited capacity of raising revenues to meet the increased cost of delivering those services. Changes to federal income tax laws at the end of 2017 have adversely impacted many of our residents by sharply reducing the amount of state and local income taxes (“SALT”) they can deduct in determining taxable income. Mindful of this, we worked very hard with our department heads to come up with a budget that would not place an additional undue burden on our residents. On April 11, the Village Council will introduce a municipal budget with a property tax increase of 0.99% over 2017.Please note this is just the municipal budget and does not include the Board of Education or the county.”

2018 Introductory Budget

 

 

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$800 thousand dollars alone on new windows for Ridgewood Boad of Ed ?

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Reader says ,“We must attend the budget meetings at schools and speak up. Last night I watched budget meeting on TV and a gentleman protested that it was insanity to spend close to 800 thousand dollars alone on new windows for Ridgewood School Board of Ed . He said he and other residents were having a hard time making ends meet because of new tax laws on property taxes. Loncte and Fishbein were completely unsympathetic and rigid about spending all that money. Loncte said they had to spend that money in order to keep house sales high , because people chose Ridgewood for there good schools. Thanks to James we known that Ridgewood ranks less than other less expensive towns in Bergen County.”

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Senator Doherty Slams Gov. Murphy’s Plan to Cut Property Tax Rebates by Half

Senator Mike Doherty

Governor Murphy Wants to Slash Homestead Benefit Program After Campaigning to Increase Rebates
March 31, 2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,Senator Michael Doherty said that Governor Phil Murphy’s budget proposal for 2019 is looking even worse as more details are revealed, including his plan to cut property tax rebates by more than 50 percent next year.

Sen. Mike Doherty slammed Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposal to cut property tax rebates by more than 50 percent next year. (SenateNJ.com)
“It’s sickening that Governor Murphy wants to reduce property tax rebates further despite promising during his campaign to restore cuts imposed by Democrats in the current budget,” said Doherty (R-23). “With the highest property tax bills in the nation, New Jerseyans need more property tax relief, not less as Governor Murphy has proposed.”

According to the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget in Brief provided by the Murphy Administration (see page 18), the governor has chosen to perpetuate a 50 percent cut to the Homestead Benefit Program in the current year’s budget that was to be fully restored in 2019.

This proposal directly contradicts his campaign pledge of “restoring rebates to low-income, seniors and disabled residents.”

“Not only has Governor Murphy chosen to prevent the restoration of funding to rebates, which would have doubled this important form of property tax relief in 2019, he has proposed cutting another $12.5 million from the Homestead Benefit Program,” Doherty said. “It’s a gut punch to property taxpayers.”

Doherty said the Governor has a constitutional obligation to increase property tax relief, given a projected budget surplus of $800 million to $1.5 billion that’s tied to larger than expected income tax collections.
“The New Jersey Constitution requires income tax revenues collected by the State to be dedicated to property tax relief,” added Doherty. “The Governor is trying to cut Homestead rebates when he should be increasing them. It looks like Governor Murphy has some explaining to do to property taxpayers.”

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WalletHub Ranks New Jersey 7th Highest Taxed State, before Murphy’s Big Tax Increase

Phill Murphy -Sara Medina del Castillo

March 31,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, On April 18, Uncle Sam will once again take his cut from everyone’s earnings this past year. And many taxpayers are already wondering what that haircut on their finances will look like. However, with such a complex tax code further convoluted by the way taxes are imposed on Americans based on their individual household characteristics, it’s hard to tell unless you wrote the tax policies yourself.

To determine which states’ residents bear the biggest tax burdens, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states across the three tax types that make up state tax burden — property taxes, individual income taxes, and sales and excise taxes — as a percentage of total personal income in the state. Read on for our findings, commentary from a panel of tax experts and a full description of our methodology

One simple ratio known as the “tax burden” helps cut through the confusion. Not to be confused with tax rates, which vary widely based on an individual’s particular circumstances, tax burden measures the exact proportion of total personal income that residents pay toward state and local taxes. And it isn’t uniform across the U.S., either.

Surprisingly New Jersey did not take the top spot as most over taxed state , in came in 7th worst ,bumped from 6th by fast decaying Connecticut that managed to tax two of its largest tax payers out of the state GE and Aetna. Of course this is before Governor Murphy gets his way pushing through his massive tax increases.

According to WalletHub’s analysts
1 New York  total tax 12.94% property taxes 4.55% individual  4.76% sales and excise 3.63%
2 Hawaii total tax11.27% property taxes 2.11%  individual 2.64% sales and excise 6.52%
3 Vermont total tax10.75% property taxes 4.96%  individual 2.29% sales and excise 3.50%
4 Maine total tax10.73% property taxes 4.65%  individual 2.58% sales and excise3.50%
5 Minnesota total tax10.24%  property taxes 2.87% individual  3.59% sales and excise 3.78%
6 Connecticut total tax10.23% property taxes 4.16% individual  3.24% sales and excise 2.83%
7 New Jersey total tax10.14% property taxes 5.31% individual  2.32% sales and excise 2.51%
8 Rhode Island total tax10.09% property taxes 4.80%  individual 2.15% sales and excise 3.14%
9 Illinois total tax10.00% property taxes 4.14%  individual 2.66%  sales and excise3.20%
10 California total tax 9.52% property taxes 2.72%  individual 3.44% sales and excise 3.36%

 

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Reader says Every Village administrator thinks money grows on trees

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Ridgewood will soon rank #1 in the state for taxes. Every Village administrator thinks money grows on trees and continues to use it wildly without contemplating the effect on the residents. I have actually been told “What’s YOUR problem? THIS is RIDGEWOOD and we can afford ANYTHING.” In many cases we can conveniently forget about losses incurred (Health Barn, Valet program, parking meters, proposed garage etc.) as Ridgewood has plenty of money so we can afford to experiment. The worse thing about the above is that NONE of these esteemed people can open their eyes, ears and noses (some of these actions have raised a huge stink (Health Barn and others) and see the problems, listen to the tax payers, and accomplish anything but throwing good money after bad. And this DOES include everyone running for election as well as others (the School Board etc.)

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Reader says The Board of Ed knew exactly what it was doing when they changed the election date

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The Board of Ed knew exactly what it was doing when they changed the election date. This totally removed the possibility of voters voting the budget down and released a wild spending spree on the part of the board. They are literally saying, “You can’t stop us. We can charge as much as we want.” If the money was being spent to evaluate some of the teachers, maybe it could be well spent. Years ago we were actually told by a teacher on back to school night–“I’m tenured, I can do whatever I want until I retire.” This was the answer to our question about what she was teaching. And throwing more money is not going to improve our county rankings, much less state and national, any more than it helps the schools in Paterson and Newark to just throw money at them. “Gilding the lily doesn’t make it an any better lily.” Is any of this money going to be used to improve the lunchroom situation? It is neither sensible nor sanitary to have students eating on the floor. The board should be forced to seriously reevaluate this budget and see what they can cut and what is being directed towards actual needs, not frills to make Ridgewood look better.

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Ridgewood Breaks Top 20 in Highest New Jersey Property Taxes

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March 6,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, according to the Department of Community Affairs ,the average residential property tax bill in New Jersey was $8,690 in 2017.Property taxes in New Jersey range from a low, low $1,277 to a high, high of $31,415 in 2017.

Glen Rock , Ho Ho Kus and Ridgewood made the list of highest property taxes in the state , with Glen Rock coming in at number 27 with an average, $15,801 in real estate taxes. Ho-Ho-Kus, came in in 26th place , with an average tax bill was $15,952 and  the Village of Ridgewood placed 17th with an average property tax bill of $17,661.

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Lance, Gottheimer Meet with IRS on SALT Prepayments

U

photo U.S. Representatives Leonard Lance (NJ-07) 

IRS will Review Christie Executive Order
Feb 15, 2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

WASHINGTON D.C. , U.S. Representatives Leonard Lance (NJ-07) and Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) hosted a meeting on Capitol Hill Thursday with Acting IRS Commissioner David J. Kautter. The IRS previously issued a ruling stating it would allow the deductibility of 2018 property taxes paid in 2017 only if the property taxes had been assessed in 2017. Lance and Gottheimer urged that the deduction should be expanded to include all 2018 property taxes paid in 2017, regardless of the date of assessment.
“Our meeting was productive. Over $300 million dollars in property tax prepayments were made by my constituents in late 2017 and I will continue to make the case that all 2018 property tax prepayments be fully deductible on 2017 tax returns. These payments were made in good faith and some payments were made before the IRS issued its unfair ruling. I also raised the important issue of comity between federal and state governments. The day the IRS issued its ruling, Governor Christie issued an executive order directing municipalities to accept property tax prepayments for all of 2018. I gave the Commissioner a copy of Governor Christie’s executive order to review,” said Lance, who was the first lawmaker to address the prepayment issue.

“New Jersey needs lower taxes for residents and for businesses of all sizes, especially after Tax Hike Bill gutted the State and Local Tax Deduction. Today, Rep. Leonard Lance and I sent the IRS Commissioner a clear, bipartisan message: don’t change the rules mid-game on New Jersey taxpayers. Allow the full deduction of all 2018 property tax prepayments. While I was encouraged by today’s meeting, I will continue to hold the IRS’s feet to the fire and fight for tax relief for North Jersey,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5).

Earlier this year, Lance wrote to Kautter and requested the Agency reconsider IRS Advisory IR-2017-210 issued on December 27, 2017 regarding the tax deductibility of prepaid state and local property taxes. That ruling stated the IRS would allow the deductibility of 2018 property taxes paid in 2017 only if the property taxes had been assessed in 2017. Lance suggested the deduction should be expanded to all 2018 property taxes regardless of the date of assessment and introduced H.R. 4803, which would mandate it. Gottheimer is a cosponsor of H.R. 4803.

President Trump signed the Tax Act into law on December 22, 2017. The law clearly prohibits individuals from deducting the prepayment of future state and local income taxes, but does not mention whether or not the prepayment of state and local property taxes would be deductible. This led many individuals to prepay their entire 2018 property tax liability prior to the issuance of the IRS Advisory, believing that it would be deductible on their 2017 tax returns. Governor Christie issued an executive order on December 27, 2017, mandating that all municipalities in the State accept the prepayment of property taxes for the entirety of 2018. This action caused many more New Jersey residents to prepay their 2018 property tax bill than would otherwise have been the case.

“I will continue to seek either a bipartisan legislative solution or an IRS ruling fixing this problem. I thank Commissioner Kautter for his time and interest. I will continue to press the issue in Congress and with the IRS,” concluded Lance.