Governor Phil Murphy, Senate President Scutari, and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin today announced the expansion of the ANCHOR Tax Relief Program, making the relief program one of the largest in state history.
ANCHOR, which stands for Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters, was announced by Governor Murphy in March as part of his Fiscal Year 2023 (FY2023) Budget Proposal. The expansion of the program will increase this investment from the nearly $900 million proposed in March to over $2 billion and will reduce property taxes for over 1.16 million homeowners and 900,000 renters beginning in FY2023.
“I am proud to stand alongside Speaker Coughlin to announce the delivery of $2 billion in direct property tax relief, which will provide over 2 million rebates to New Jersey households. This is a truly historic tax relief program for our state,” said Governor Murphy. “Today we take a step forward on this administration’s promise to make New Jersey a stronger, fairer, more affordable state for our middle-class and working families.”
Under the expanded ANCHOR Property Tax Relief Program proposal, there will be a full phase-in of rebates and the benefits will be simplified.
870,000-plus homeowners with a household income of under $150,000 would receive a $1,500 property tax credit on their property tax bill each year and 290,000-plus homeowners with a household income between $150,000 and $250,000 would receive a $1,000 property tax credit on their property tax bill each year.
900,000-plus renters with incomes up to $150,000 would receive $450 each year to help offset the rent increases caused by increasing property taxes.
The average New Jersey property tax bill was approximately $9,300 in 2021. ANCHOR’s direct property tax relief rebates could offset over 16 percent of the average property tax bill in New Jersey for some homeowners. For a middle-class family receiving the $1,500 in direct relief, the average bill will effectively become $7,800, a property tax level New Jersey has not seen since 2012.
The ANCHOR program expands on and replaces the Homestead Rebate Program, which serves 470,000 homeowners annually and provides an average benefit of $628. Renters are not eligible for the current Homestead program, but ANCHOR recognizes that rents are often raised to offset rising property taxes. ANCHOR will make over four times more New Jerseyans eligible to receive a property tax rebate when compared with Homestead.