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Attention NJ renters and homeowners: There may be $1,750 more in your bank account.
By
Louis C. Hochman
Published Oct 12, 2023
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By
Louis C. Hochman
Published Oct 12, 2023
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More than 700,000 New Jersey renters and homeowners will wake up to find as much as $1,750 deposited into their bank accounts Thursday.
The payments are the first ANCHOR property tax relief distributions for tax year 2020, and will go to applicants who signed up for direct deposit. Paper checks are set to be mailed out starting next week.
Nearly all qualified renters and homeowners who've applied so far should receive their payments by Nov. 1, according to an announcement from Gov. Phil Murphy's office. Those who apply later will get their payments on a rolling basis.
"This is the most historic property tax relief program ever in the state," Murphy said on WNYC's "Ask Governor Murphy" call-in show Wednesday evening.
State officials say they expect relief payments to ultimately go to more than 1.7 million residents who received ANCHOR payments in the 2022-23 fiscal year. This year's payment for seniors has grown by $250 over the 2022 payments, which were for tax year 2019. Homeowners making less than $250,000 a year and renters earning less than $150,000 a year are eligible for the program.
Renters 65 or older will receive $700 rebates, and those under 65 will receive $450.
Homeowners 65 or older will receive $1,750 if they earn less than $150,000, and $1,250 if they earn between $150,000 and $250,000. Homeowners under 65 will receive $1,500 if they earn less than $150,000 and $1,000 if they earn between $150,000 and $250,000.
"This knocks your property tax, bill back a decade or more in, in most cases," Murphy said Wednesday evening.
This year's payments are coming far earlier in the fiscal year than the last round, which didn't show up until March 2023. Residents in 2022 described difficulty getting through to the state's helpline for months.
Republican legislators have argued ANCHOR — short for the Affordable Communities for Homeowners and Renters — is a gimmick and that rebates are no substitute for systemic tax reform. New Jersey consistently tops most rankings for the highest property taxes in the nation.
And some have questioned the timing, shortly before November's general election, when every seat in the state Legislature is up for grabs.
“I think this is Gov. Murphy, yet again, playing Santa Claus right before an election where, quite frankly, the Democrats are spiraling out of control,” Sen. Michael Testa, a Republican from Cumberland County, told NJ Monitor in August.
Murphy announced during September's "Ask Governor Murphy" installment that people who received payments from the last round would be automatically re-enrolled, so long as their mailing addresses, bank account numbers or other qualifying information hadn't changed.
Re-enrolled residents who have not changed their information were expected to receive their confirmation letters in white envelopes with the words “ANCHOR Benefit Confirmation Letter” in red ink. Residents can check their status or file applications at anchor.nj.gov.
State officials also planned to mail applications to two million residents to reach additional people who qualify this year. Applications must be returned by Dec. 29.
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Louis C. Hochman
After about two decades in (mostly) New Jersey-focused commercial print, digital and digital-but-radio-adjacent news, Lou stumbled into member-supported news in early 2021, as the editor and CEO of Montclair Local. There, he (hopes he) expanded enterprise, brought more sophistication to digital storytelling and moved the nonprofit newsroom closer to long-term financial sustainability. He helped lead the Local to its fourth consecutive General Excellence award from the New Jersey Press Association — the NJPA's highest honor with judges noting the paper's work to strip away layers of government opacity, to hold power to account, to make news accessible for more members of the community, to share the stories and concerns of more facets of the community and to tell compelling stories across multiple media. He's excited to continue the same ethic — news as a public service — at NYPR as the New Jersey and suburbs editor, drawing on the extraordinary talents of reporters including Karen Yi and Nancy Solomon. Lou lives in Philly (that commute!) with his partner and their two cats, about whom and about which he speaks incessantly.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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