Senior Tax Freeze Program Available For Moorestown Residents

MOORESTOWN, NJ - Moorestown residents continue to be concerned about a proposed 5 percent tax rate increase that came with this year’s draft budget, but there is an option for New Jersey seniors and disabled people to be reimbursed for property taxes.

The Senior Freeze Program reimburses eligible senior citizens and disabled persons for property tax or mobile home park site fee increases on their principal residence, according to the New Jersey Department of the Treasury.

New Jersey residents age 65 and older and/or those who receive Social Security disability benefit payments are eligible for the program. It doesn’t apply to anyone who receives benefits on behalf of someone else.

To qualify this year, residents must have lived in New Jersey continuously since Dec. 31, 2007, or earlier, either as a homeowner or a renter. Homeowner must also have lived in the specific home they lived in as of Dec. 31, 2018, since Dec. 31, 2014 or earlier. Mobile homeowners must have leased a site in a mobile home park where they placed or manufactured a mobile home for the same period (Dec. 31, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2018).

Anyone who moved from one New Jersey property to another and received a reimbursement for the property they lived in for the last full year they lived there may qualify for an exception to re-applying to the Senior Freeze Program. Click here to see if you are eligible.

Residents must have paid all property taxes and site fees that are due to qualify. Property taxes due on a home must be paid by June 1 of the following year to be considered timely for this program. For a list of income limits that need to be met, click here.

Residents are not eligible for reimbursement on the following:

• A vacation home or second home;
• Property that you rent to someone else;
• Property that consists of more than four units; or
• Property with four units or less that contains more than one commercial unit;

• Are completely exempt from paying property taxes on your home; or
• Made P.I.L.O.T. (Payments-in-Lieu-of-Tax) payments to your municipality.

Residents are considered the owner of the property if they have life estate rights or hold a lease for 99 years or more. A copy of an official document (e.g., deed, lease) establishing right to occupy the property must be included with the application.

For more on the program, visit state.nj.us.

Deputy Mayor Nicole Gillespie referenced the program after a resident said a tax increase would hurt senior citizens on fixed incomes during the public comment portion of the April 8 council meeting. The same resident questioned why the township would raise taxes when it has a surplus.

“It’s just a proposal,” Mayor Lisa Petriello said. “We’ve made no decisions yet, and the surplus has been taken into account.”

Township Manager Thomas Neff also explained that spending down the surplus would hurt the township’s credit rating, which would impact its ability to borrow. Moorestown currently has a AAA credit rating from Moody’s.

Council has already held four workshop meetings to discuss the budget, with another scheduled for April 29.

Read more here: Moorestown Draft Budget Brings Almost 5 Percent Tax Rate Increase