New Jersey’s Average Property-Tax Bill Rises to a Record $9,284

(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey’s annual property taxes, the highest in the nation, rose 1.9% in 2021 to a record $9,284, according to a preliminary estimate from the state community affairs department.

Alyana Alfaro, a spokesperson for Governor Phil Murphy, called the annual change “one of the lowest increases on record.”

The 2021 average bill, based on preliminary calculations, is 6.8% higher than in 2017, when Murphy, a 64-year-old Democrat, was elected. Alfaro, in an email, called that figure the lowest cumulative increase for a New Jersey governor at this point in the term.

High property taxes, which pay for local government, schools and other services, are New Jerseyans’ biggest complaint in public-opinion polls. The average bill in New Jersey has roughly doubled over the past two decades. In 2010, then-Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, signed legislation limiting annual increases to 2%, with exceptions including debt service and public pension and health-insurance payments.

In an annual speech on Tuesday, Murphy pledged to continue efforts to help New Jerseyans afford their property-tax bills. He said his administration is providing relief with initiatives including more state school funding, expanded deductions on state income taxes and rebates of as much as $500 for roughly 700,000 households. Murphy, a retired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. senior director, was narrowly re-elected in November. His second term starts on Jan. 18.

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