New Jersey homeowners and renters are trying to wrap their heads around significant changes to the state’s property tax relief programs.
The devil is in the details of the new application that covers ANCHOR, the Senior Freeze and the coming Stay NJ benefit
Bear with us so we can shed a little light.
The newly updated ANCHOR information page, found on the Treasury Department’s website, spells out the eligibility requirements for the ANCHOR part of the benefit, which includes having owned or rented — and occupied — a primary residence as of Oct. 1, 2024.
What’s important here is the date. To understand why, we have to go back to a property tax benefit that was popular before ANCHOR came to be.
In the mid-1970s, New Jersey’s unpopular income tax went into effect, and shortly after, the Homestead Rebate property tax relief program was born.
Just like the state’s current property tax benefits, funding was at the mercy of each year’s annual state budget.
Gov. Chris Christie twice delayed the benefit because of spending woes. But those annual Homestead Rebates weren’t cancelled. They were technically only deferred.
That was the start of residents receiving property tax benefits that were tagged with a fiscal year name that was behind the actual calendar year.
When the ANCHOR benefit replaced the Homestead Rebate, the delayed scheduled remained the same. It was first paid in 2022 for the 2019 tax year. That’s why your benefit received in 2024 was called the 2021 ANCHOR benefit.
So where does that leave us now?
To qualify for the 2021 ANCHOR, which was paid in 2024, you had to be a resident as of Oct. 1, 2021.
But the new application says to receive the 2024 ANCHOR benefit — skipping over the 2022 and 2023 tax years — you need to be a resident as of Oct. 1, 2024.
So are we missing benefit years?
As one longtime NJ Advance Media reader put it: “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it ain’t a swan.”
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, Stay NJ’s author and biggest supporter, did not comment on the issue.
But a spokeswoman pointed NJ Advance Media to the Stay NJ Task Force’s recommendations, specifically its attempts to alleviate confusion by making sure all three property tax programs have the same benefit year.
“There may be a perception that the State is taking something away from a qualified applicant by moving the ANCHOR benefit year to 2024,” the report said. “However, as long as ANCHOR is funded, there will still be an annual payment.”
That’s true — as long as the benefit is funded each year, which is no guarantee.
It’s also important to note that changes to the rules mean, as acknowledged in the Stay NJ Task Force’s report, that the benefit year change will mean some lose the current ANCHOR benefit. It specifically noted that some estates — which can apply on behalf of someone who died — would lose the benefit year.
And for those who are still among us, even if the benefit is funded each year going forward, what happens to the 2022 and 2023 benefits?
Plainly, Gov. Christie gave those away. Sure, he deferred the payments by not skipping a benefit year by name, but it’s not like the Legislature is going to double or triple payments one year to make up for the benefit years where no one was paid.
Quack.
Stories by Karin Price Mueller
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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on X at @KPMueller.