Nutley Tax Hike Gets OK From Commissioner Board: See Impact For Homeowners

NUTLEY, NJ — Nutley’s latest town budget recently got a green light, and it will mean a tax hike for local homeowners.

The Nutley Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the amended 2026 municipal budget at their meeting on June 4. View the town’s budget presentation here.

For the average Nutley homeowner with a property valued at $494,786, the proposed budget will mean a $340 tax increase to the municipal portion of their taxes.

Property taxes in New Jersey are mainly made up of three parts: school, municipal and county. The average Nutley resident will see a combined increase of roughly $800 this year when all sources are added together.

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One of the biggest drivers behind the municipal tax increase is rising insurance costs, which other New Jersey towns have also been struggling with.

Mayor John Kelly III said the town was hit by a $3 million increase to its health insurance premium, which is a “problem based on neglect from the prior governor’s administration that has been gradually creeping up and getting worse and worse.”

“Unless the state does something to fix this, this is a problem that’s not going to go away,” commissioner Mauro Tucci agreed.

• Related: Sherrill’s Budget Looks To Free NJ From Health Plan Chokehold

The spending plan that got a green light last week was amended from a previous version to address concerns about water and sewer billing – and the possibility of a rate increase this year, Department of Revenue and Finance Commissioner Thomas Evans explained.

“By working through this amendment, we found a way to absorb $500,000 worth of cost into the municipal operating budget without increasing the municipal budget – and therefore having to do a rate increase for 2026,” Evans said.

“We have a lot of work to do for 2027, because it’s not avoidable forever,” he added. “But we’ve been able to avoid it for this year.”

Watch footage from the June 4 town council meeting here, or view it below (video is cued to the budget presentation and hearing at the 43:38 mark):

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