Montclair Proposed Town Budget Has $100 Average Tax Hike

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Montclair property owners would see a tax hike of about 2 percent to the municipal portion of their taxes under the town’s proposed 2022 budget. That would mean a $100 increase for the average home valued at $632,000, officials said during a presentation last week.

Montclair town officials discussed the draft budget during the March 15 council meeting (watch the video below).

Montclair officials gave a detailed presentation on the proposed budget, which can be seen here.

“The local economy continues to be negatively impacted by this prolonged pandemic,” the municipal presentation states. “On top of it, the inflation rate of over 7% that is affecting almost all residents of the town is equally affecting the township operations. Under these circumstances, it is an extremely difficult task to prepare a budget that minimizes the tax increases.”

“As you recall before the pandemic, we had three continuous years of no municipal tax increase,” officials said.

• See related article: Montclair Homeowners Pay 11th Highest Property Taxes In NJ
• See related article: Tax Gap In Essex County: Many Wealthier Towns Pay Lower Rates
• See related article: Montclair Will Get More School Aid From NJ Under Murphy Plan

According to Montclair officials, the town has received $2,018,219 of the first tranche of federal American Rescue Plan funding, and is expecting to receive the second tranche at a later date. The town will be using all of the funds it has received so far in the 2022 spending plan, putting $1.2 million in the general budget and the balance of $818,219 in the parking utility budget. Read More: Montclair Will Get $3.7 Million From Latest COVID Relief Bill

A public hearing for the municipal budget is scheduled for April 19.

Property taxes in New Jersey are made up of three parts: school, municipal and county. Here's how that broke down in Montclair last year:

• School – 57.2%
• Municipal – 25.9%
• County – 16.9%

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