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County Has State Lowest Property Tax Rate

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

County Has State’s Lowest Property Tax Rate
CREST HAVEN: (12.6) Cape May County government has the lowest effective property tax rate in the state, Treasurer Edmund Grant reported to freeholders Nov. 28.
That’s a first.
Last year, one other county, Bergen, had a lower rate.
This year, the county’s equalized tax rate is 16.96 cents per $100 of assessed value, or $169.60 for every $100,000 of assessed value. Bergen is next low, at 17.72 cents.
“We provide services economically and efficiently,” commented Freeholder-Director Dan Beyel, “and that’s what the taxpayers want.”
Grant said the comparison with the state’s other 20 counties was “apples to apples.” The effective tax rate factors in assessment ratios and thus is the fairest way to present tax rates.
An economical government and the boom in ratables have been cited as factors in this county’s low tax rates.
County Tax Administrator George R. Brown III said his preliminary ratables “guess” for 2007 is $51.3 billion. That would be an $8 billion, 15.8 percent increase, compared to last year’s $8.3 billion, 23.4 percent increase. Although less than last year, it’s nothing to sneeze at.
Add to that the 45 percent reduction in county debt service, to $4.3 million next year from $7.9 million this year, should assure that the county will be able to reduce its 2007 tax rate, making the 12th consecutive year it has either been cut or held.
The continued ratable boom — now a result of revaluations more than new construction — also suggests the county will repeat last year’s first-time, wildly popular Municipal Public Improvements Pooled Financing Program which returned $3.8 million to municipalities for recreational projects.
Last year’s first-time allocation of an extra $200,000 for arts and cultural organizations, however, is apt to be massaged.
The projected $8 billion increase in ratables is still the second largest ever and continues a trend that took off in earnest about the year 2000. In the 1990s, ratables were stuck in the $13 billion range and actually declined slightly in 1993-95.
In Grant’s comparison, Morris County, at 20.15 cents, has the next lowest rate after Bergen.
Highest effective tax rates in the state are in Salem, Cumberland and Camden counties, with rates of 98.86 cents, 98.33 cents, and 73.6 cents, respectively.
Contact Zelnik at (609) 886-8600 Ext. 27 or: jzelnik@cmcherald

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