Why Prop. 13 is more crucial than ever

by John Seiler | March 14, 2014 1:50 pm

[1]Every year brings attempts to gut Proposition 13[2], the 1978 tax limitation measure. It limits yearly increases in property taxes to 2 percent of the assessed value, beginning when the property was purchased. The original rate is 1 percent of assessed value.

Thus, someone buying a $300,000 condo this year would pay $3,000 in taxes this year, but at most $3,060 next year.

New Jersey didn’t have an equivalent until recently. Here’s what’s happening[3]:

The average property-tax bill in New Jersey[4], which already has the highest in the U.S., rose 1.7 percent last year, Governor Chris Christie[5] said.

More than 80 towns, school boards and other local governments saw their taxes drop, while about 160 had increases of less than 1 percent, according to an e-mail from the governor’s office.

New Jersey’s property taxes, which are collected by local governments, increased about 7 percent annually in 2004, 2005 and 2006 before the rate began to slow. Christie, a second-term Republican, has controlled the growth after enacting a 2 percent annual cap. Still, the tax climbed to a record of more than $8,000 per household, from the previous high of $7,885 in 2012, according to calculations by Bloomberg.

“This is the lowest rate of growth in 24 years in this state,” Christie said yesterday at a town-hall meeting in Mount Laurel[6].

That’s only because home price increases slowed after the earlier peaks. But the taxes remain sky high. And you’re living in Jersey!

Source URL: https://calwatchdog.com/2014/03/14/why-prop-13-is-more-crucial-than-ever/

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