Property Tax Relief Program Updates

What you need to know about the Anchor, Senior Freeze, and “Stay NJ” programs

Anchor 

Anchor (Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters) is a newer property tax relief program, established last year as a successor to the Homestead Rebate Benefit.  The program is for New Jersey homeowners/renters, who meet the following eligibility requirements:

• New Jersey residence required;
• They must have owned and occupied a home in New Jersey that was their principal residence on October 1, 2020;
• 2020 property taxes were paid on that home; and
• Their 2020 New Jersey gross income was not more than $250,000.

If you filed with the program last year, the NJ Division of Taxation will file ANCHOR applications on behalf of most qualified residents who received an ANCHOR benefit earlier this year (for tax year 2019). If you qualify, you should have received an "ANCHOR Benefit Confirmation Letter" in August of 2023, notifying you that you met the requirements.  If the information in your confirmation letter remains the same as your prior filing, no action is required on your part.

If any information from your prior filing changed, you must file your application to update these changes (using one of the blue webpage buttons) before September 30, 2023. You will not be able to adjust your application after that date. Payments will be issued using the information they have on file.  New filers have until December 31, 2023 to file.

** UPDATE** Starting on September 26th, Outreach Team members will be knocking on doors and attending events in the community daily between the hours of 1 pm to 7 pm to educate NJ homeowners and renters about available tax relief and to assist in completing the necessary application.

Senior Freeze 

Senior Freeze is a long-standing property tax relief program for NJ senior homeowners and homeowners with disabilities.   This program does not actually freeze property  taxes (or mobile home park site fees) but will reimburse eligible residents for any increases they have once they're in the program. They will get the difference between their base year (first year of eligibility) property tax amount and the current year property tax amount, as long as the current year is higher than the base year and they met all other eligibility requirements.  This for increases on principal residences (main home). To qualify, they must meet all the eligibility requirements for each year from the base  year through the application year.  The deadline for 2022 applications is October 31, 2023.  FYI, the State of New Jersey is currently issuing 2022 payments to qualified applicants.

There are important changes in the program coming next year.  P.L. 2023, c.75 which was signed into law June 30, 2023, expands the income limit, and simplifies the residency requirements for new Senior Freeze program applicants.  It increases the income limit for the program to $150,000; and eliminates the requirement that an applicant must be a New Jersey resident for 10 consecutive years.  A three-year homeownership requirement remains in place. A three-year homeownership requirement remains in place. 

For complete program details check the Senior Freeze webpages at https://www.nj.gov/treasury/taxation/ptr/index.shtml and check our Senior Freeze program flyer.

Stay NJ 

A new tax relief program for the State’s seniors passed in late June has been dubbed Stay NJ and would begin to provide  benefits to seniors in 2026, at the earliest.  

Included is the funding of tax credits that would be used to cut property taxes in half for many homeowners ages 65 and older, up to a maximum of $6,500 annually. Right now, senior homeowners making up to $500,000 annually would be eligible for the promised benefits.  As written currently the program leaves out tenants, including those in communities of color, who pay property taxes indirectly through monthly rent payments.  

A concern is whether future state revenue growth keeps pace with the projected annual cost of funding the promised benefit, which could eventually rise to over $2 billion annually.  So, expect to learn more about this program in the future.