ANCHOR, Stay NJ Relief At Risk: What To Know

With months of state budget negotiations still to be had, the future of New Jersey property tax relief remains in limbo, for now. Here’s what we know:

Last month, Governor Mikie Sherrill introduced a $60.07 billion budget plan while trying to combat a $3 billion budget deficit facing the state.

As a result, slashes were proposed to New Jersey's property tax relief programs, primarily to Stay NJ.

Stay NJ is a tax relief program introduced in 2025 to help senior citizens with tax relief, with the purpose of encouraging them to stay in the Garden State upon retiring.

For now, the relatively new program reimburses applicants for 50 percent of their property tax bills, up to a maximum of $13,000, with a benefit cap of $6,500. To be eligible for the Stay NJ program, residents must be 65 years and older, have owned and lived in their home for the full 12 months of the fiscal year, and have an income below $500,000.

Slashes To Eligibility

If Sherrill's proposed budget passes unchanged, the Stay NJ eligibility threshold will be sliced in half, making it so that households that bring in more than $250,000 cannot receive relief.

This would eliminate roughly ten percent of eligible households from receiving Stay NJ relief across the state, compared to this year.

“Stay NJ is a great program – it keeps seniors, so often living on a fixed income, in their homes,” Sherrill said during her budget address. “But it benefits households that make as much as $500,000 a year. I'm changing that to safeguard Stay NJ for middle-class seniors. If you make $250,000 or less, your tax relief is in this budget. That’s going to save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year.”

Slashes To Relief

Sherrill's plan also accounts for a decrease in the maximum relief one can receive through Stay NJ.

The budget cuts $2,500 from the maximum Stay NJ benefit, from $6,500 to $4,000.

The maximum relief benefit one would receive under Stay NJ, ANCHOR, and the Senior Freeze combined still could not exceed 50 percent of your property tax bill.

In other words, anyone who pays more than $8,000 in property taxes (roughly $2,000 less than the state average) would see less relief under the proposed budget.

For example, a Stay NJ-eligible recipient who pays $10,000 in property taxes would lose $1,000 in 2026 tax savings compared to 2025 relief.

Even someone who pays $8,500 in property taxes would still see a $250 hit compared to previous Stay NJ relief.

Again, senior homeowners who earn more than $250,000 annually would not receive any property tax relief from the state.

Will ANCHOR Be Affected?

As it stands, Sherrill's budget leaves ANCHOR somewhat alone. Homeowners who earn $250,000 or less per year would receive $1,500, and renters who fall in the same threshold would get $450.

However, the $250 bonus formerly extended to senior homeowners and renters under ANCHOR is set to expire after fiscal year 2026. Sherrill's proposed budget does not account for the bonus in 2027, meaning seniors would lose the extra bump.

This, of course, could all change during negotiations in the coming months. Clearly, property tax relief is something that's been deemed expendable to a degree by the governor, so only time will tell if the ANCHOR program could take a hit as its Stay NJ relative did.

Sherrill's budget also does not mention any changes to the Senior Freeze funding, but again, it's not necessarily off the chopping block as uncertainty looms.

Despite the changes, the budget’s property relief package is still expected to be the largest in New Jersey history, totaling roughly $4.2 billion. That includes $2.3 billion for ANCHOR, $700 million for Stay NJ, and $350 million for the Senior Freeze program.

The proposed budget, which also makes changes to school funding and Medicaid, is due July 1. Until then, lawmakers will review and negotiate the governor’s propositions.

Can I Still Apply For Relief?

Yes, these unconfirmed changes do not, and will not, apply to the 2025 fiscal year.

Eligible residents can still apply for the Stay NJ program if they make $500,000 or less, and can receive up to $6,500 in relief.

Residents can apply through the PAS-1, an application that combines ANCHOR, Stay NJ, and Senior Freeze all in one.

To learn more about property tax relief for the 2025 fiscal year, click here.

Related:

• NJ Alters Property Tax Rebate Forms As Trenton Juggles Funding
• Sherrill Cuts Property Tax Relief Eligibility In Budget Proposal
• Sherrill Looks To End Crisis: 5 Takeaways From NJ Budget Address
• Affordability Takes Center Stage In NJ Budget Address