>With Rising Property Taxes, Should Non-Profits Now Pay Their “Fair Share”?
( its a little old but it still seemed very relevant, the staff of the Ridgewood blog )
Posted by Matthew Brian Hersh on August 4, 2008
It’s tight here in New Jersey.
And it’s because it’s crowded. With 8.7 million people, we are 11th in the country in population, but first in population density in the Union with over 1,100 people per square mile. We’re also wealthy—2nd in the country—but you wouldn’t necessarily know it by looking at those areas that make us the most densely-populated state in the country.
The Garden State, as it so happens, also as the highest imbalance of any state in the country in terms of what it gives and receives to and from the federal government. According the the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, the Garden State gets back just less than two-thirds of every dollar it sends to Washington.
So there are demands here. There are spatial demands, housing demands, demands for resources, infrastructure, you name it. As such, New Jersey is often at the vanguard in dealing with all kinds of issues facing the nation. The state hits a major stumbling block, however, when it comes to property taxes.
In New Jersey, where we rely on a property-tax-based system to largely fund our public schools and governments, rising municipal costs are taxing people out of towns. The state has mandated a four percent cap on municipal budget increases, and as home values are reassessed and towns are revaluated, property tax rates will adjust—either up or down. But obviously the worst-case scenario is an increase, so that’s what we’ll examine.