Property tax revenue

[tom1944]

Expresses buses from Howell- many of them. I am familiar with Wayne I worked there. I know on average it has areas that may be more expensive- it also has areas cheaper than Howell.

The average cost of living does not equate to the difference in the taxes collected.

By the way are you in a bad mood or just overly sensitive. I was not looking for a fight. I just posted some data.

Wayne is also not known as a significant town to commute to NYC so while they have more residents that may commute to NYC than Howell that is not the driving factor between the towns.

[MaverickDD]

Originally Posted by tom1944

My town is on the low end. What does Wayne get for their taxes that Howell does not?

Originally Posted by vfrex

Wayne's average income is 12% higher than Howell's. Wayne is commutable to NYC and Howell is not, so Wayne absorbs wage and price inflation from NYC. Wayne's population density is 3x Howell's. Wayne's school district ranks significantly above Howell's. That all results in higher property values, which drive a higher cost of living, which drives higher municipal wages.

Originally Posted by tom1944

There are thousands of people that commute from Howell to NYC. I think it is more than a 12% difference in the amount of taxes. There appears to be some service that Wayne taxpayers are willing to pay for.

Originally Posted by vfrex

Wayne is 1/3 the distance from Manhattan. Howell is a half hour drive from the nearest train station; Wayne is a half hour drive from Manhattan. There is no comparison. I congratulate you on missing the point, but let's try again. If property values are higher in Wayne, how are the municipal workers supposed to live in the town without higher pay?

Likewise, not looking for an argument but merely providing some possible answers to your questions:

Proximity to New York City, being in the North Jersey Metroplex, is an undeniable factor in Wayne's costlier environment. I suspect vfrex is correct that the amount spent on employee salaries (and pensions?) is substantially higher in Wayne than in Howell. (This, I've not verified.)

More so, Wayne is the only town on the OP's list in ultra-high tax Passaic County. The county tax ($66M) is about 150% of the non-school municipal tax ($44M)!

Furthermore, the school tax in Wayne consumes about three-quarters of the non-county revenue, a whopping $138M, while the township receives only about $4M in state aid.

Other factors? Probably many! One that comes to mind is that Wayne is built on a series of mountains AND is in a colder climate zone than Howell. How much more does it cost to keep the roads safe all winter?

[tom1944]

Maverick all very good points and they might make up the difference. Passaic/Monmouth obviously is a big factor.

Wayne has 2 high schools while Howell is in a regional system. 100 million divided over 50-55,000 people is a lot of money.