Are new Jersey property taxes High all around, do the wealthy pay the same rate as most jerseyans (Garfield: 2009, house)

[AnesthesiaMD]

Originally Posted by elflord1973

One of the weaknesses with the property tax system is that home values aren't terribly transparent.

A weakness for us, but strength for the local government.

[AnesthesiaMD]

I'm not really even sure how we let them get away with property taxes anyway. How is it different from charging people rent on property they supposedly own. But nobody in America really owns their property because if you stop sending the government their rent check, they evict you.

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by AnesthesiaMD

I'm not really even sure how we let them get away with property taxes anyway. How is it different from charging people rent on property they supposedly own. But nobody in America really owns their property because if you stop sending the government their rent check, they evict you.

It boils down to starting with, what services do you expect your town to provide, and how do you want your town to pay for them ?

The main reason property taxes are so high is that towns are expected to provide education. In my opinion, this is a silly quasi-feudal system based on a backward "keep the bums out" mindset, but it is what people here seem to want for the most part.

[luckyshoes]

As much as we all complain about our property taxes, NJ likes their home rule, and property taxes make that possible.

[tech2enable]

Maybe but I believe there is more to the story, it does seem that some sort of local control is part of the problem, but doesn't it also stem from state mandates, and also on the other flip of the coin , not enough state aid.

[AnesthesiaMD]

Originally Posted by elflord1973

It boils down to starting with, what services do you expect your town to provide, and how do you want your town to pay for them ?

The main reason property taxes are so high is that towns are expected to provide education. In my opinion, this is a silly quasi-feudal system based on a backward "keep the bums out" mindset, but it is what people here seem to want for the most part.

There are towns that dont provide many services at all, keeping their property taxes low. Alpine, for example. You hire your own waste management, get a PO Box, send your kids to private school, or the public school in the next town over, etc. And they STILL manage to "keep the bums out".

[JerseyG]

Originally Posted by elflord1973

It boils down to starting with, what services do you expect your town to provide, and how do you want your town to pay for them ?

The main reason property taxes are so high is that towns are expected to provide education. In my opinion, this is a silly quasi-feudal system based on a backward "keep the bums out" mindset, but it is what people here seem to want for the most part.

Keep the bums out of what? Towns with high property taxes?

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by JerseyG

Keep the bums out of what?

The schools

[luckyshoes]

Originally Posted by AnesthesiaMD

There are towns that dont provide many services at all, keeping their property taxes low. Alpine, for example. You hire your own waste management, get a PO Box, send your kids to private school, or the public school in the next town over, etc. And they STILL manage to "keep the bums out".

Does Alpine really have low taxes? Or is it just that the value of their houses are so high that their taxes look low when compared to other towns.

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by AnesthesiaMD

There are towns that dont provide many services at all, keeping their property taxes low. Alpine, for example. You hire your own waste management, get a PO Box, send your kids to private school, or the public school in the next town over, etc. And they STILL manage to "keep the bums out".

That's a great approach. I don't think excluding poor people should be an education policy goal, but I recognize that this is the prevailing view here.

Moving to a more market based system makes it possible for those who can't or don't want to spend an arm on a leg on housing, to obtain access to better education.