RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE
2016 avg: $17,181
2015 avg: $16,798
Change: 2.30%
By Michael Symons January 24, 2017 7:26 PM
Property taxes increased by more than $700 million across New Jersey in 2016, the most in six years, according to a New Jersey 101.5 compilation of tax data.
That added $196 to the average residential property tax bill, a 2.35 percent jump to $8,549. That’s the same percentage increase as in 2015, which was the most since 2011.
The tax levy increased by 2.54 percent statewide, or nearly $703 million. The levy last rose by that percentage in 2011, and the last time it grew by that many dollars or more was in 2010.
The levy can increase by more than Gov. Chris Christie’s signature 2 percent cap because of exceptions for pensions, health benefits, debt, construction and emergencies. Also, governments that are under the cap one year can “bank” that increase to use in any of the next three years.
Christie spokesman Brian Murray said the governor didn’t want the exemptions. Murray said rising property values largely triggered the slight tax increase and that annual increases in property taxes have averaged 2.04 percent since 2010.
“The annual increase would have been lower had the Legislature not incorporated exceptions to the 2 percent caps, exemptions the governor advocated against,” Murray said. “But more importantly, the rate of increase is far below the astounding 7 percent-per-year tax growth New Jersey averaged during the decade preceding the governor’s arrival in office.”
