OT: Property tax relief coming for those over 65

[retired711]

The Governor and legislative leadership have reached agreement on a program to be called "Stay New Jersey." Those over 65 with incomes of $500,000 or less will receive an annual payment from the state of half their property taxes up to a limit of $6500 per year. I mention this because property taxes often come up in discussions on this board of why posters are planning to leave NJ upon retirement.https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562023/approved/20230621a.shtml

Edit: the limit is $6500, not $6200 as I originally wrote.

 

[RUPete]

This post will probably get moved to the CE board but I think the compromise reached is much more reasonable than what was originally proposed.

 

[Morrischiano]

Good job by the Governor in helping out our senior citizens.

 

[jmc11201]

Where is the money coming from? Presumably other taxpayers will pick up the tab.

At the end of the day, spending and taxing are the same things. Without spending cuts there are no tax cuts.

 

[RUskoolie]

I don't have any problem with taking care of our seniors. Truth is a lot leave the state because they just can't afford the taxes so this helps. Where is the money coming from? Plenty of waste they can cut from if they choose.

 

[mdk01]

I don't have any problem with taking care of our seniors. Truth is a lot leave the state because they just can't afford the taxes so this helps. Where is the money coming from? Plenty of waste they can cut from if they choose.

If they cut waste I'm all for it. And I would benefit. If they delay the sunset of the corporate tax surcharge and keep the rate the highest in the country all they've done is give a different group a reason to leave And a group that would take jobs with them.

 

[jtung230]

I don't have any problem with taking care of our seniors. Truth is a lot leave the state because they just can't afford the taxes so this helps. Where is the money coming from? Plenty of waste they can cut from if they choose.

The poor baby boomers. They had it so hard. Guess you are all for social security too.

 

[retired711]

If they cut waste I'm all for it. And I would benefit. If they delay the sunset of the corporate tax surcharge and keep the rate the highest in the country all they've done is give a different group a reason to leave And a group that would take jobs with them.

They are not delaying the sunset.

 

[mdk01]

The poor baby boomers. They had it so hard. Guess you are all for social security too.

OK Xer. Or is it Millennial?

 

[jtung230]

OK Xer. Or is it Millennial?

Guilty

 

[RU at the shore]

I don't have any problem with taking care of our seniors. Truth is a lot leave the state because they just can't afford the taxes so this helps. Where is the money coming from? Plenty of waste they can cut from if they choose.

Cut waste, lol

 

[newell138]

If they cut waste I'm all for it. And I would benefit. If they delay the sunset of the corporate tax surcharge and keep the rate the highest in the country all they've done is give a different group a reason to leave And a group that would take jobs with them.

Governments create waste, they certainly don’t cut it

 

[RUevolution36]

It is a transfer of wealth from those who can't afford it to people who should have saved enough to be able to afford it. It's funny that those who complain about taxes and waste are not up in arms about this one...

 

[T2Kplus20]

Good job by the Governor in helping out our senior citizens.

Good job by the Speaker for forcing the Governor to help out seniors. Dems in Trenton need to start cleaning up their mess.

 

[T2Kplus20]

The poor baby boomers. They had it so hard. Guess you are all for social security too.

Baby Boomers = Worst Generation Ever

 

[Rutgers Chris]

Baby Boomers = Worst Generation Ever

Pre-order your copy today…
Death by Boomers: How the Worst Generation Destroyed the Planet, but First a Child
https://a.co/d/19NmF7E

 

[RUskoolie]

The poor baby boomers. They had it so hard. Guess you are all for social security too.

Nope SS sucks but there is something to be said for trying to care for older people.

 

[Steve91562]

Good, Florida is way past the point of bursting. Quality of life really suck$ in the SE part. Hmm, now if they only can do something about your winters up there ....

 

[Steve91562]

Baby Boomers = Worst Generation Ever

Every generations says that stuff about their elders. Cats born today will say it about you.

 

[Steve91562]

Ha, ha, that's a low threshold for tax relief. 500K in retirement income and you still get help? Ha, ha, talking about helping the needy. Of course, giving back with one hand what you take with the other.... people will still leave long as places like Florida and Texas exist. Though those places will get you in other ways.

 

[gef21]

Every generations says that stuff about their elders. Cats born today will say it about you.

Data wise the children of boomers will be worse off than them. Boomers won the game and then changed the rules of the game.

 

[Section124]

Based on this board no one still lives in NJ older that 65 anyway. Will have minimal impact. 😜 Just kidding. Good job getting the seniors some help here. Will help me sooner rather than later.

 

[ruinac]

There are pros to this but also unintended consequences:

This makes home ownership cheaper for 65+. Fewer homes will go on the market in a state that already has a housing shortage. Demand will go up, which will drive up home prices and make things more difficult for young buyers who were already struggling to afford to purchase.

 

[fg7321]

Nope SS sucks but there is something to be said for trying to care for older people.

If only we could bring back the bread lines and people selling apples to survive. Those were the days my friend!!

 

[fg7321]

There are pros to this but also unintended consequences:

This makes home ownership cheaper for 65+. Fewer homes will go on the market in a state that already has a housing shortage. Demand will go up, which will drive up home prices and make things more difficult for young buyers who were already struggling to afford to purchase.

So we should force seniors to move out of NJ so others can buy their home at a better price?

You do know that NJ is a net loser of population? Also senior citizens don't burden a school system with kids in school thus lowering the school tax burden. Seniors also make up a large percentage of volunteer organizations and are historically the largest contributor of charitable donations.

This also allows families to stay together and senirs cna help to take care of their extended family vs having to move thousands of miles away.

 

[ruinac]

So we should force seniors to move out of NJ so others can buy their home at a better price?

You do know that NJ is a net loser of population? Also senior citizens don't burden a school system with kids in school thus lowering the school tax burden. Seniors also make up a large percentage of volunteer organizations and are historically the largest contributor of charitable donations.

This also allows families to stay together and senirs cna help to take care of their extended family vs having to move thousands of miles away.

As I wrote, there are pros to it. And cons. I’ve seen and heard all of them mentioned. Except for the one I pointed out. I haven’t seen anything that would indicate to me that the ones who pushed for this have considered the impact on supply and demand of housing stock.

 

[mdk01]

Baby Boomers = Worst Generation Ever

Nope SS sucks but there is something to be said for trying to care for older people.

Data wise the children of boomers will be worse off than them. Boomers won the game and then changed the rules of the game.

Most of the way through "Generations" by Jean Twenge. Heavy, detailed analysis of the generations starting with the Silents followed by the Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z. Factual analysis that, contrary to the popular media theme, the children of Boomers (Gen X, Millennials) are not worse off. Jury's still out on Gen Z. Other data sources showed that any blanket comment about Boomers and Social Security is flawed because, due to changes in the system during their working lives, the cost/benefits for Early Boomers ('46-'50), Middle Boomers ('51-'59) and Late Boomers ('60-'64) are vastly different. And the real winners of Social Security were the Greatest Generation and Silents.

 

[Extra Point]

It's a good idea, but people making 500K a year certainly don't need property tax relief. I would have set it at 150K and lower.

 

[RU to the Core]

Most of the way through "Generations" by Jean Twenge. Heavy, detailed analysis of the generations starting with the Silents followed by the Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z. Factual analysis that, contrary to the popular media theme, the children of Boomers (Gen X, Millennials) are not worse off. Jury's still out on Gen Z. Other data sources showed that any blanket comment about Boomers and Social Security is flawed because, due to changes in the system during their working lives, the cost/benefits for Early Boomers ('46-'50), Middle Boomers ('51-'59) and Late Boomers ('60-'64) are vastly different. And the real winners of Social Security were the Greatest Generation and Silents.

Anecdotal but I agree. All my friends are better off than their parents were. We are old gen x and old millennial range. My parents combined hit six figures when I was 17 in 1997. My wife and I make over 5x that. Same with my friends. My buddy who is no rocket scientist bought a 1.2m place in San Fran. My other buddy works for apple and does well. My other buddy is a legit multi millionaire. I feel like if you went to college and picked the right industry it would be impossible not to get to upper middle class.

So i don’t buy it that the baby boomers ruiner the country. They built insane trillion dollar businesses and pushed things forward. All you had to do was hold on to the coattails of those companies.

 

[RU to the Core]

What NJ should do is make the state business friendly. Why cater to old rich people. 500k? Should be lower. I was in charlotte recently and it was sad seeing the Honeywell skyscraper in charlotte. That was a NJ company just a few years ago. NJ should keep those good corporate jobs and look for growth.

 

[Extra Point]

There are pros to this but also unintended consequences:

This makes home ownership cheaper for 65+. Fewer homes will go on the market in a state that already has a housing shortage. Demand will go up, which will drive up home prices and make things more difficult for young buyers who were already struggling to afford to purchase.

Don't worry, people 65+ don't have long to live. And many move to 50+ communities and assisted living places.

 

[DanRU]

Good job by the Governor in helping out our senior citizens.

The Governor was against this 100% so he gets no credit. He agreed to this compromise because the rest of his party (who have re-election to worry about) was for it and he was going to lose that battle. While $500K is a pretty high cutoff, the maximum benefit is $6K which is much less than what $500K pays in state income tax. If the goal is to keep seniors in their homes, this works for those with low income and it's a little incentive for those with high income to stay in state as opposed to moving to a state with 0 income tax and property taxes that are less than half of NJ.

 

[RU848789]

The Governor and legislative leadership have reached agreement on a program to be called "Stay New Jersey." Those over 65 with incomes of $500,000 or less will receive an annual payment from the state of half their property taxes up to a limit of $6200 per year. I mention this because property taxes often come up in discussions on this board of why posters are planning to leave NJ upon retirement.https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562023/approved/20230621a.shtml

Christmas comes early for me, as I'll be 64 in 2026, when this starts. I had no plans to leave NJ, anyway, but I won't turn the money down. I do think the $500K income cap on receiving this tax relief is a bit high, since not getting $6200 in tax relief at that income level is barely 1% of their income, but for people making less than $75K per year in retirement, like many whose primary income is SS, a ~10% or more tax break relative to income will absolutely be huge and allow many of these folks to stay in NJ.

I also think fg's comments below shouldn't be overlooked as a benefit to communities with seniors living in them.

So we should force seniors to move out of NJ so others can buy their home at a better price?

You do know that NJ is a net loser of population? Also senior citizens don't burden a school system with kids in school thus lowering the school tax burden. Seniors also make up a large percentage of volunteer organizations and are historically the largest contributor of charitable donations.

This also allows families to stay together and senirs cna help to take care of their extended family vs having to move thousands of miles away.

 

[e5fdny]

Most of the way through "Generations" by Jean Twenge. Heavy, detailed analysis of the generations starting with the Silents followed by the Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z. Factual analysis that, contrary to the popular media theme, the children of Boomers (Gen X, Millennials) are not worse off. Jury's still out on Gen Z. Other data sources showed that any blanket comment about Boomers and Social Security is flawed because, due to changes in the system during their working lives, the cost/benefits for Early Boomers ('46-'50), Middle Boomers ('51-'59) and Late Boomers ('60-'64) are vastly different. And the real winners of Social Security were the Greatest Generation and Silents.

I’m cool with that.

Not sure who wouldn’t be?

 

[mdk01]

The Governor was against this 100% so he gets no credit. He agreed to this compromise because the rest of his party (who have re-election to worry about) was for it and he was going to lose that battle. While $500K is a pretty high cutoff, the maximum benefit is $6K which is much less than what $500K pays in state income tax. If the goal is to keep seniors in their homes, this works for those with low income and it's a little incentive for those with high income to stay in state as opposed to moving to a state with 0 income tax and property taxes that are less than half of NJ.

I think it's more than just low income. When you consider SS isn't taxable in NJ and there is often a partial exclusion of pension/IRA income this (along with non-tax considerations like family) will make the state much more attractive to retirees with AGI in the $100-200k range. Not so much 500k given the pension treatment.

 

[mdk01]

I’m cool with that.

Not sure who wouldn’t be?

I would differentiate between Greatest and Silent. Yes, the Silent had Korea (but no depression) but the Boomers had Vietnam.

 

[tom1944]

The Governor was against this 100% so he gets no credit. He agreed to this compromise because the rest of his party (who have re-election to worry about) was for it and he was going to lose that battle. While $500K is a pretty high cutoff, the maximum benefit is $6K which is much less than what $500K pays in state income tax. If the goal is to keep seniors in their homes, this works for those with low income and it's a little incentive for those with high income to stay in state as opposed to moving to a state with 0 income tax and property taxes that are less than half of NJ.

He was not against it 100% he thought they had the eligibility level at to high an income

They settled by lowering it to $500,000.

 

[NotInRHouse]

I’m cool with that.

Not sure who wouldn’t be?

Well, when you consider the cost of a home relative to income, and that college was free in NYC and CA (at least) for boomers if not close to it everywhere else- on top of only being required for the whitest of white collar jobs- seems pretty clear the boomers got the freest ride.

OTOH millennials had to take on enormous debt, college now is what a HS degree was then in terms of qualifications, home prices are way higher relative to income, and we had the great recession and then COVID when we should be hitting earning strides.

And now I would say in the post COVID environment, a lot of millennials are doing well but you have to consider that some millennials are over 40 now. Everything got delayed for us.

This is on top of our generation getting the double whammy of Iraq and Afghanistan- only the older fringe of boomers got Vietnam- while being told we're snowflakes.

This is why we feel kinship with our parents' generation and agita with the boomers.

 

[e5fdny]

Well, when you consider the cost of a home relative to income, and that college was free in NYC and CA (at least) for boomers if not close to it everywhere else- on top of only being required for the whitest of white collar jobs- seems pretty clear the boomers got the freest ride.

OTOH millennials had to take on enormous debt, college now is what a HS degree was then in terms of qualifications, home prices are way higher relative to income, and we had the great recession and then COVID when we should be hitting earning strides.

And now I would say in the post COVID environment, a lot of millennials are doing well but you have to consider that some millennials are over 40 now. Everything got delayed for us.

This is on top of our generation getting the double whammy of Iraq and Afghanistan- only the older fringe of boomers got Vietnam- while being told we're snowflakes.

This is why we feel kinship with our parents' generation and agita with the boomers.

Never mentioned that group.

I would differentiate between Greatest and Silent. Yes, the Silent had Korea (but no depression) but the Boomers had Vietnam.

They grew up in it.🤷‍♂️

And raise your hand ITT if you did the bare minimum and singed up for Selective Service when turning 18.

 

[retired711]

The Governor and legislative leadership have reached agreement on a program to be called "Stay New Jersey." Those over 65 with incomes of $500,000 or less will receive an annual payment from the state of half their property taxes up to a limit of $6500 per year. I mention this because property taxes often come up in discussions on this board of why posters are planning to leave NJ upon retirement.https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562023/approved/20230621a.shtml

Edit: the limit is $6500, not $6200 as I originally wrote.

One source of the money is going to be unspent federal Covid-19 stimulus funds. So taxpayers all over the nation are paying for New Jerseyans to have this program.

I should add that NJ Anchor program will stay in place for the next couple of years; the benefit level will be increased over this last year to a range of $1250 to $1750.