Heads up, NJ: Property tax relief applications about to start

TRENTON – Get ready to check your mailboxes and inboxes: Applications for New Jersey property tax rebates start going out next week.

More people are eligible for property tax relief through the new ANCHOR program than used to receive homestead benefits, including renters for the first time in more than a decade, so don’t presume it doesn’t apply to you.

But the benefits are only paid to those who apply, rather than get paid automatically, so action is required if you’re eligible.

Applications will be sent on a rolling basis through the end of September on the following schedule:

• Burlington, Hunterdon and Mercer: Mailing begins Sept. 12, email delivery begins Sept. 13

• Atlantic and Essex: Mailing begins Sept. 14, email delivery begins Sept. 13

• Bergen and Warren: Mailing begins Sept. 16, email delivery begins Sept. 16

• Ocean, Salem and Sussex: Mailing begins Sept. 19, email delivery begins Sept. 20

• Cumberland, Gloucester and Hudson: Mailing begins Sept. 21, email delivery begins Sept. 20

• Monmouth and Somerset: Mailing begins Sept. 23, email delivery begins Sept. 23

• Passaic and Union: Mailing begins Sept. 26, email delivery begins Sept. 27

• Cape May and Middlesex: Mailing begins Sept. 28, email delivery begins Sept. 27

• Camden and Morris: Mailing begins Sept. 30, email delivery begins Sept. 29

The Treasury Department says to call its ANCHOR hotline at 1-888-238-1233 if you don’t receive your ANCHOR filing information, which includes an identification number and PIN, within 10 business days of your county’s mailing date.

You’ll be able to file online for the ANCHOR benefit – but not yet, as it requires information from what’s coming in the mail or by email.

RELATED: NJ tax rebates: How much relief do you really get? A town-by-town look

The relief being applied for this year and provided in 2023 is based on 2019 income limits. People are eligible if they owned or rented a home in the state on Oct. 1, 2019, unless that resident was exempt from paying property taxes or paid a PILOT, a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, to their municipality.

The program provides credits of $1,500 to taxpayers with 2019 gross incomes up to $150,000, and $1,000 for those with gross incomes between $150,000 and $250,000. Tenants with gross income up to $150,000 can qualify for $450.

Benefits will be paid by next May, as a direct deposit or check. (Note: The program originally was going to be paid to homeowners as a credit off their quarterly property tax bill, but that has been changed.)

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ANCHOR is short for Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters.

Michael Symons is the Statehouse bureau chief for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at michael.symons@townsquaremedia.com

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