New Jersey has released a new application for the state’s property tax relief programs, and residents have a lot of questions.
With the change, there will now be a single application for ANCHOR, the Senior Freeze and the new Stay NJ benefit, which won’t start paying out until 2026.
The move to a single application is meant to simplify the process, but it’s not confusion-free. At least not yet.
Indeed, while the application is now available for download — the online version isn’t available yet — the state’s property tax programs won’t be funded until the state budget, due July 1, is negotiated and approved.
Assuming the benefits are funded, here are the top issues residents should know before they complete the new application.
NOW OR LATER?
The new combined application is only for homeowners who are 65 or older or who are disabled and receive benefits through Social Security. Non-senior homeowners and renters will have a separate application to complete for ANCHOR later this year.
The state Treasury Department posted the new application, called PAS-1, on Jan. 29. Residents can download it and print it out, and then mail in.
The agency also said it will mail applications to more than a million households by early March, including to “taxpayers who were identified by the Division of Taxation as potentially being eligible for any of the three property tax relief programs,” including past Senior Freeze recipients, past ANCHOR recipients, and seniors who have filed gross income tax returns.
Those forms will have some pre-printed information, such as the “base year” property taxes for people who previously received the Senior Freeze.
But if you use the paper application, you won’t be able to sign up for direct deposit, the Treasury Department said.
The only way to get direct deposit is to file online.
“The online application offers more security to protect a taxpayer’s details,” spokeswoman Danielle Currie said. “This is also consistent with the Division’s practice of not offering direct deposit to filers who mail-in income tax information, as it is more secure to file online.”
NEW: Am I losing an ANCHOR benefit because of Stay NJ?
So even if you receive an application by mail, you can choose to file online instead, the agency said.
The online application is not yet available, though. The Treasury Department said it should go live in mid-February.
When it does open, taxpayers will enter their Social Security number and last name in order to begin filing online, the agency said.
Another advantage to the online application is that you can start the application, and then save it to complete at another time.
And given that the deadline to file isn’t until Oct. 31, 2025, it could be worth the wait.
“The benefits will begin to be distributed in July 2025 on a rolling basis, as is routine,” the Treasury Department said, though the Stay NJ part of the payment not coming out until 2026.
HOW MUCH WILL I GET?
Like many other government benefits, the process isn’t exactly simple.
First, the new Stay NJ benefit, which is supposed to cut property taxes by up to 50%, capped at $6,500, for seniors who earn less than $500,000 a year, is not calculated on an island. It works in tandem with the ANCHOR and Senior Freeze benefits.
The state will determine how much you should receive under ANCHOR and the Senior Freeze first. If the combined benefit is less than 50% of your property tax bill, with a cut-off of $6,500, you’d get another payment under the Stay NJ name.
That’s why many residents may have a hard time comparing their benefits with their neighbors.
Starting with ANCHOR, to qualify, you must have owned or rented and occupied a home in New Jersey that was your principal residence on Oct. 1, 2024. Homeowners who earn up to $100,000 receive $1,500 and homeowners who earn up to $150,000 receive $1,000, while seniors get a bonus of $250. (Reminder: Qualifying renters, who would complete a separate application, would receive $450, while senior renters get a bonus of $250.)
Then, for Senior Freeze, how much a resident gets under the program depends on how long they’ve been in the program and how much their property taxes have risen over time.
The annual income limits to qualify are going up. Total annual income must have been $168,268 or less in 2024 and $163,050 or less in 2023.
So assuming your income qualifies, how much will you get?
Let’s say your property tax bill was $8,000 in 2014, and that was your first Senior Freeze year, which is also called your “base year.” Then let’s say your property taxes went up to $12,000 over time. The Senior Freeze part of your benefit would be $4,000.
Then let’s say you qualified for the larger ANCHOR benefit, or $1,750 with the senior bonus.
Together, you’re already getting $5,750 of property tax relief from the first two programs.
Now, for the Stay NJ part of the benefit, you’d first look at your total tax bill of $12,000. Half of that, or 50%, is $6,000.
Because the maximum benefit under Stay NJ is 50% of your tax bill — in this case, $6,000 — you’d only get another $250 under the Stay NJ umbrella to bring your total property tax relief to that level.
Let’s take another example with a homeowner whose property tax bill was $6,000 in 2020, and the tax bill has now risen to $8,000. The Senior Freeze benefit would be the difference — or $2,000.
Then say that same resident only qualifies for the smaller ANCHOR benefit, or $1,250 with the senior bonus.
Fifty percent of that person’s tax bill is $4,000. So under the Stay NJ name, because they’ve already received $3,250 from the two other benefits, they would also only receive an extra $750 under the Stay NJ umbrella, hitting the $4,000 mark.
And finally, imagine a resident has property taxes of $15,000 a year but earns $400,000 a year, so they wouldn’t qualify for ANCHOR or Senior Freeze. That person would still get a payment of $6,500 under the Stay NJ name.
If all that math is making your head ache, we get it. Fortunately, the state will send a letter in late 2025 to those who use the combined application to explain how the Senior Freeze, ANCHOR and Stay NJ benefit amounts were calculated for you.
One more note: If you have a very large Senior Freeze benefit, and when you add it to your ANCHOR benefit, it’s higher than the Stay NJ maximum of $6,500, don’t worry about losing benefits. You would not get anything less than you get today. You just won’t get an extra payment under the Stay NJ name.
Stories by Karin Price Mueller
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NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.
Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on X at @KPMueller.