Towns can indeed protect themselves from builders remedy suits. But it will take municipal, Administrative and Legislative leadership to stop sprawl and build affordable housing.
Tax Policies
Affordable Housing and Sprawl
Friday, August 2nd, 2002NJ Housing Even Less Affordable
Friday, May 17th, 2002Finding housing that’s priced within your means is tough for all New Jerseyans. For low- and moderate-income workers in New Jersey, it can be impossible.
Property Tax System Broken, Too
Tuesday, March 26th, 2002The “dumb growth” that’s damaging New Jersey’s environment and hollowing out many older communities is driven in large measure by New Jersey’s broken property tax system. The over-reliance on property taxes forces communities to chase new development — even when the development doesn’t fit the community’s vision or character, adds to its traffic problems or eliminates its open space.
New Taxes or No, Tax System Needs Repair
Friday, November 30th, 2001UNINTENDED TAX CONSEQUENCES
As New Jersey’s leaders argued this week how best to live within state means without raising taxes, the Fund for New Jersey reported that nearly half of all state and local taxes collected in New Jersey come from property taxes (47 percent). In most states, the property tax burden is closer to 30 […]
Farmland Tax Policies Work Against Preservation
Wednesday, October 10th, 2001New Jersey, as virtually all other states, helps its farmers stay profitable with preferential property tax treatment. Known as “farm-value assessment,” this tax policy sharply reduces the property tax on “actively devoted farmland.”
Building Stronger Communities by Tax Sharing
Thursday, September 20th, 2001TAXES AND SHARING
New Jersey’s property tax rates vary widely by community, but with a common pattern: Communities with the largest needs and least ability to pay consistently bear the highest tax rates, while communities boasting the lowest tax rates include our most affluent towns.
The 24 communities with the highest property tax rates (3.5 percent […]
NJ Needs Stable Source of Funding for Redevelopment
Monday, April 30th, 2001Inadequate funding for public improvements to induce redevelopment is a major reason why many projects that would rejuvenate developed areas cannot go forward.
Sprawl Gets NJ Coming – and Going – via Property Tax
Friday, March 30th, 2001Many communities on the front lines of sprawl saw their property taxes jump by over 40% to cover the costs of providing new roads, sewers, schools and services.
Property Taxes Drive Urban Distress and Sprawl
Wednesday, January 10th, 2001New Jerseyans shoulder the nation’s highest residential property taxes, claiming about 10 percent of annual median household income.
NJ’s Dirty Secret – Not Enough Housing Affordable To NJ’s Workers
Friday, December 8th, 2000Spillover Sprawl
The newest frontier of New Jersey suburbanization is actually in northeastern Pennsylvania.
The population of Monroe County, Pa. grew by 34 percent in the past decade; Pike County, Pa. grew by a whopping 48 percent. New Jersey’s fastest growing county, Somerset, grew by a comparatively “meager” 20 percent.
Both Pennsylvania counties are served by […]
