Secaucus One Of The Few NJ Towns Where Taxes Dropped

SECAUCUS, NJ — You know the old saying, death and taxes are inevitable. And the latter usually goes up, especially in a place like New Jersey. But miraculously, taxes actually went down in 66 towns across the state last year, and Secaucus is one of them.

In this list, NJ 101.5 rounded up the 66 towns across the state that saw tax reductions in 2017.

The average property tax in Secaucus last year was $6,239, a 6.7 percent drop from 2016. Year over year, Secaucus consistently remains lower than New Jersey's average property tax bill of $8,690.

How did it happen? Secaucus Mayor Mike Gonnelli attributes the drop to several factors. First, you can thank all the warehouses, industry and commercial property in town. They alone pay 70 percent of the town's tax bill.

Secondly, 2017 was the first year Secaucus no longer had to pay into the Meadowlands Commission, a consortium of local towns. So that saved $3 million.

Third, Gonnelli said while the town offers many services, such as senior shuttles and programming for kids, he tries not to approve requests for extra spending.

Finally, it's all about location, location, location.

"Secaucus is a desirable place to live," said Mayor Gonnelli. "We're a quick trip into Manhattan and a nice place to live. People want to move here, and it shows."

All the new development in town brings Secaucus' rateable base to about $80 million. That's the estimated market value of all taxable property in town. Gonnelli points to the two new warehouses that just went up by the Goya factory on County Road (they're on Secaucus city property, not Jersey City), as well as the new Harper apartment complex and Osprey Cove East. That's all taxable property, even though the Harper was given a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes). There's also a new hotel being built behind the Red Robin, which will pay taxes.

There's more development coming: Once all the new apartments at Xchange are complete, the 2018 ratable base will increase to $100 million, Gonnelli said.

Photo by Carly Baldwin/Secaucus Patch. Want to see something on the Secaucus Patch? Email me at carly.baldwin@patch.com