Atlantic County vs. CMC TAXES? (Atlantic City, Cape May: apartments, schools, housing)

[soulsurv]

I'm rather stunned to see a significant difference in the taxes of these two counties. Whereby Atlantic County has far more industry (and therefore tax base) than Cape May County, yet the taxes are insane (now I'm talking SOUTH Jersey insane. N. Jersey is obscene).

I've looked at charming properties in Mays Landing and Egg Harbor Twp, only to see the taxes (for less land than CMC, mind you) sometimes at an asounding 7 or 8 thousand - and therefore out of the question. Now the same-sized property in Mamora or Ocean View at HALF of that. What gives?

[NJGOAT]

Look at what makes up the tax bill. Generally school taxes will be the lions share of the difference and hence school quality is generally the deciding factor. Also, towns with few ratables, but larger populations tend to have high taxes relative to the quality of their schools. You also can see an impact from towns with large concentrations of high density housing like apartments where the remaining tax base bears a larger burden.

County taxes can also have a large impact and chances are that Atlantic Counties taxes are higher than Cape May's do to Atlantic City and the infrastructure that supports the area.

[soulsurv]

Thank you, NJ Goat. Of course I'm not privy to what makes up the bill, but I'm sure you're correct about the schools. i just thought that since AC had so much industry that that would carry a lot of the burden...but I forgot that townships differ greatly in their school costs.

I appreciate your response.