Working for Smart Growth:
More Livable Places and Open Spaces

 

Tax Policies

Smart Growth in Transition – Part V: Property Taxes

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

New Jersey is heavily reliant on property taxes to pay for local services while New Jersey households pay the highest property taxes in the country.

Schools Should be Prime Target for Realignment

Friday, September 5th, 2008

New Jersey is home to more “regular” school districts than municipalities.

Housing Costs, Property Taxes Shift Along with Population

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Gloucester County still leads New Jersey’s 21 counties in population growth, growing by 1.58 percent between 2006 and 2007, nearly seven times the statewide growth rate of 0.23 percent. Somerset (1.09 percent) and Cumberland (0.89 percent) were the second and […]

Taxes, Infrastructure Repair, and Lane Use

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007

At 10.5 cents per gallon, New Jersey has the third-lowest gasoline tax in the nation; only Alaska and Georgia* are lower. Washington has the highest tax: 36 cents per gallon.

Washington Township and Smart Growth

Tuesday, April 17th, 2007

The estimated average property tax bill in Washington Township increased by 84 percent between 1998 and 2004. This was the 14th-largest increase among all 566 municipalities in the state, and the biggest increase in Mercer County. (East Windsor Township is […]

Tax Relief without Reform?

Friday, January 12th, 2007

New Jersey’s local governments shoulder a larger share of public education costs than most other states. Currently, 53.3 percent of revenues for public schools are raised locally in New Jersey, compared to a national average of only 43.9 percent.

Can Property Tax Relief Help Slow Sprawl?

Monday, December 18th, 2006

New Jersey’s overdependence on property taxes to pay for local services, especially schools, is perhaps the most significant factor behind the state’s sprawling growth patterns, which have hurt families, businesses, the environment, and the economy.

Cashing in on History

Tuesday, November 28th, 2006

States around the country are making money off of history. Historic tax credit programs, found in 28 states, provide property owners with economic incentives to revitalize older neighborhoods and reuse historic structures by providing state tax credits for their rehabilitation. […]

Fewer Kids Living in Transit Villages and Town Homes

Sunday, November 26th, 2006

A new analysis of 2000 U.S. Census data from Rutgers University finds that higher-density, multiunit development near train stations does not bring in nearly the number of schoolchildren as previously believed—and often actually produces fewer children than larger, single-family homes.

Voting for Property Tax Relief or Reform?

Friday, November 3rd, 2006

On election day next Tuesday, Ballot Question #1 will ask New Jersey voters to vote on a constitutional amendment that would dedicate a half-cent of the new one-cent sales tax increase to not-yet-defined “property tax reform.”

© New Jersey Future.

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