Personal Finance
NJ Alters Property Tax Rebate Forms As Trenton Juggles Funding
An important clarification to a property tax relief application addresses overlooked eligibility requirements.
As Governor Mikie Sherrill proposes cuts to Stay NJ property tax relief eligibility, the Division of Taxation has made slight alterations to the rebate applications.
The PAS-1, a combined application that lets seniors apply for ANCHOR, Stay NJ, and Senior Freeze all at once, now has an additional page that accounts for an important clarification.
A requirement for property tax relief is that you must have owned a home in New Jersey for the full 12 months of the fiscal year. At no point in the statutes did it say it had to be the same home.
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Until now, the Stay NJ statutes didn’t account for people who moved from one New Jersey home to another residence in the state.
As a result, several New Jersey seniors who moved within the state were mistakenly denied Stay NJ relief, as spotlighted by NJ.com.
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The PAS-1, with an additional page allowing applicants to clarify that they moved, but did not leave the state, can be found online here.
Related—Major NJ Property Tax Relief Available Now: How To Get Your Cut
Proposed Stay NJ Changes
The application amendments come just as Sherrill announced she’d be slashing not only the Stay NJ eligibility requirements, but also the max amount of property tax relief one can receive.
The governor’s proposed budget cuts the Stay NJ income requirement by half, from $500,000 to $250,000. Additionally, it lowers the maximum benefit from $6,500 to $4,000.
The move comes as Sherrill tries to close a $3 billion budget gap. She says the alterations are a “fairer, more efficient use of taxpayer money” that helps “safeguard Stay NJ for middle-class seniors.”
Despite the cuts to Stay NJ, the budget’s property tax relief package sits at a whopping $4.2 billion, the highest in the state’s history.
Read More: Sherrill Cuts Property Tax Relief Eligibility In Budget Proposal
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.
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