Property Tax Rebate Letters Going Out In Berkeley

BERKELEY, NJ — Eligible Berkeley residents should check their mail, as ANCHOR (Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters) program instructions are arriving.

Letters were mailed out last week for Ocean County, and many are starting to get theirs in the mail.

Mailers will reach all taxpayers by the first week of October, according to a notice on the state's ANCHOR webpage. The treasury staggered mailings in an effort to alleviate inundation on its call center, according to officials.

Taxpayers will be able to file online, through mail or via phone by Dec. 30.

Online filing is now available via the New Jersey Department of the Treasury's website. The telephone-based filing system is unavailable as of Tuesday morning, according to the treasury. Tenants filing for relief won't have the phone option.

The state will pay rebates via check or direct deposit "no later than May 2023 to allow time for application processing and validation." The treasury also has limits on the number of checks it can issue each week.

Read More: NJ's $2B Property Tax Rebate Program Opens: How To Get Paid

The ANCHOR program replaces the Homestead Rebate. Berkeley was the third highest municipality in the state qualifying for that program, according to Berkeley Mayor Carmen Amato. He urged residents to check their mail for the letter at a recent Township Council meeting.

"We as a governing body respectfully request that when do you receive your check from the state, that you run down here to Town Hall and apply it to your property taxes, because that's what the program is intended for," Amato said.

Amato, who said he received his letter already, told residents to fill the application out as soon as they get it.

He also mentioned that Berkeley already has some of the lowest property taxes in the state. Out of the 564 municipalities, Berkeley ranks 29th lowest for property taxes. Berkeley is also second-lowest in Ocean County, only behind Manchester.

"The average Berkeley Township homeowner pays less than half of the statewide average," Amato said. The statewide average for property taxes is $9,284, while Berkeley residents pay an average of $4,558, Amato said.

"We continue to aggressively purse every available funding source available to keep our tax burden on residents as low as possible," Amato said.