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Burzichelli: Property Tax Relief Clearly Not a Priority for Christie Administration

(TRENTON) – Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland) released the following statement after questioning the acting Department of Community Affairs commissioner about problems with property tax relief during Wednesday’s Assembly Budget Committee hearing:

“Considering how the net property tax bill has risen 30.7 percent under Gov. Christie, I suppose it shouldn’t surprise anyone that property tax relief is not a priority of this administration. Still, I’m surprised at the lack of clear answers from the administration on property tax relief.
“It’s unclear how much in property tax rebates and credits people are receiving, when exactly they have gotten them — or will get them — and how many years behind in paying them the state may be. Meanwhile, the state stopped publishing property tax rebate/credit information on its annual report, making it difficult to determine actual facts.
“Even more, these rebates/tax credits are still based on the 2006 property tax levy, despite homeowners’ rising tax bills. Homeowners enrolled in the program were supposed to receive the relief last August, but Gov. Chris Christie pushed it back nine months, meaning no relief was received at all in 2014.
“A proposed municipal transitional aid cut and lapse in such funding just raises more concerns.
“It’s clear why homeowners are justifiably frustrated with the lack of property tax relief coming from this administration.”