Property tax question

Submitted by n3gative_c00l t3_ygubs4 in jerseycity

We bought a condo in the Heights last summer, and just got our first property tax bill covering Q4 2022, Q1 2023, and Q2 2023.

The condo is in an old building that had a total gut renovation to it, for context. The renovation took place around a year ago, and it sat on the market for awhile before we bought it, for context.

Our 22Q4 bill is huge — around $4800. Our 23Q1 and 23Q2 bills are more reasonable — around $1800.

I am trying to make sense of why the 22Q4 bill is so large in general, but also relative to the others. I know about the BOE budget controversy etc. — is that what I am seeing? I presume so since the "distribution" of it shows that almost $2K is going to district school tax and another $1800 going to local tax (with a whole $6 going to "arts and culture," LOL).

Why would that only be for 22Q4 and not 23Q1, though?

The "distribution of taxes" thing says (I am rounding):

> LAND: 0. > IMPROVMENT: 343,000 > TOTAL: 343,000 > EXEMPTIONS: 0 > NET TAXABLE: 229,000 > GROSS TAX: 4,800 > DEDUCTION: .00 > NET TAX: 4,800 > FIRST HALF BILLED: .00 > BALANCE DUE: 4,800 > PRELIMINARY 2021 TAX: 3,600

I am really not sure what any of the above means, other than the idea that the improvements increased the overall bill. But I don't understand why the 22Q4 bill is so high, at least compared to the others. Note that the "preliminary 2021 tax" line is exactly what the 23Q1 and 232Q2 totals add up to. What's up with that?

Thank you for any insight. I apologize for using Reddit for this, but the JC tax website is not very helpful.

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ashlandbus t1_iud2b4y wrote

The symptom of a late budget, one that was well over the forecasted amount, an unaccountable mayor and city council, and a very poorly run city/tax department. Q3 was higher because of the school budget. Q4 was higher because of the bloated city budget - both brought our tax rate from 1.64% at the start of the year to 2.118% now - which is what you see your Q1 and Q2 taxes reflecting. Unfortunately, that will likely follow the same path this years did and we can expect to see that increase by end of 2023.

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n3gative_c00l OP t1_iuaiw5p wrote

Ah, I see that 22Q4 is supposed to be extremely high. Does this mean that they basically didn't smooth the increase out over 4 quarters, so it is like ~3X higher than normal? That would make sense (and be less despairing), even if it is about the most maximally painful way you could do a tax increase.

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bodhipooh t1_iud64q6 wrote

>Does this mean that they basically didn't smooth the increase out over 4 quarters, so it is like ~3X higher than normal?

Basically, this is correct. Q3 and Q4 were high because they are "trueing up" for the year. The budget that was approved in October is the 2022 budget, so the increase in taxes is retroactive to the beginning of the year and became *instantly* due in Q4.

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wasting_-my-_time t1_iudgw8f wrote

I fully expect this will happen again in 2023. Plan for a big tax hit.

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pixel_of_moral_decay t1_iudr9e6 wrote

It will. State will contribute less to BOE so even without inflation taxes will need to go up.

Then the city hasn’t fully accounted for inflation since most of this years budget is retroactive. So that’s on next years budget.

That’s the minimum.

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bodhipooh t1_iudx2c9 wrote

You, and I, and several others have been stating this for years, pretty much unheeded or ignored by most, it seems.

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mbstor23 t1_iug79z5 wrote

23Q1 may be one number, but 23Q4 is gonna be shit.

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n3gative_c00l OP t1_iuhwzip wrote

Is this just a hunch or based on something real? Just trying to budget here :-)

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