We received an e-mail from Mayor Ed Remsen, sharing with us a fact sheet prepared by Joe Hartnett, who says...
As promised yesterday, attached is a fact sheet you can use to help with citizen inquiries/complaints about the tax bills. It will also be posted on the website and sent out to the news media. You can feel free to print out or email to people or whatever. I hope it helps. Best --- Joe
FACT SHEET REGARDING 2006 PROPERTY TAX INCREASE IN MONTCLAIR
Q. I recently received my third quarter estimated tax bill. If I multiply this by four, it appears that I have a huge tax increase this year. Is this correct?A. No, this is not correct. The correct way to calculate your property tax for the year 2006 is to ADD your first and second quarter tax bills to the third quarter estimated tax bill you received and the fourth quarter actual bill you will receive. When you add these together, the result will be a total 5% property tax increase for the year 2006 in Montclair.
Q. Will my fourth quarter tax bill be the same as my third quarter tax bill?
A. No, it will not. The third quarter bill is estimated based on the status of the Montclair Township, Essex County and public schools budgets at the time the bills were mailed. Subsequent to the bills being mailed, Montclair Township and Essex County reduced their budgets and your fourth quarter tax bill will be less than your third quarter tax bill.
Q. What does my property tax bill consist of?A. Property tax bills consist of three parts: taxes for your local public schools; taxes for your local municipal government; and taxes for the Essex County government. 59.2% of your property tax bill is for the public schools, 22.8% is for Township government, and 18% is for Essex County. If you multiply these percentages times your tax bill for the year, you will see how much of your tax bill is going to each entity.
Q. Does the tax revaluation program have anything to do with this year’s tax bill?
A. No, it does not. The tax revaluation will not go into effect until 2007.
Q. What is a typical tax bill in Montclair?
A. The average tax bill in Montclair is $13,509. Of this, $7,997 is for the public schools, $3,080 for township government, and $2,432 to Essex County government.
Prepared by the Office of the Township Manager.
July 2006
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