Cedar Crest	UPDATED: Tuesday, February 05, 2008
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When will Jersey see relief?

Posted on Tuesday, February 05, 2008

By Julia Boyle
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Chances are you’ve just mailed yet another four-figure property tax payment. And though statewide taxes saw a smaller increase in 2007 than over the past few years, the reported 5.5% hike did not dip as low as the 4% goal Governor Corzine set last January.

This was “the lowest increase in six years,” says Lilo Stainton, press secretary to Governor Corzine. “This positive trend is expected to continue in 2008.”

Rising taxes, falling population?
While it may be a positive trend, taxpayers are singing a different tune.

“People are no longer going to be able to stay here in New Jersey, and businesses won’t come here because of all the taxation. When they commend not meeting the goal, they show contempt for the taxpayer,” says Jim Allen, a long-time New Jersey resident.

“Taxes in the state of New Jersey have escalated to what I believe is out of control,” he says heatedly. Allen says that in the five years he has lived in his current house, his property taxes have increased $2,000. “At that rate, who can afford to live here?” he asks.

But Allen does plan to remain in the state and has joined the Priority Lists at both Cedar Crest, in Pompton Plains and Seabrook, in Tinton Falls. A reservation on the Priority List holds his place in line at either community so he can move when the home he wants is available and he’s ready.

A new way to pay bills
Because he found the right place for him to retire in his home state, he is following a trend. “Anecdotes suggesting residents are leaving are not based on fact,” says Stainton. “Actual data shows more people—particularly seniors and high wage earners—continue to move to New Jersey.”

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The two Erickson Retirement Communities pay their allotted property taxes, but each person who lives there does not write a big quarterly check in addition to all their other bills. Instead, they write just one check every month— their monthly service package, which also includes 24/7 maintenance on their home, all utilities except phone, and one meal a day in any of the community’s three restaurants.

Joe Harsel, Erickson’s director of community relations, says Erickson communities like Cedar Crest pay property taxes in one lump sum. “That amount is then divided up among each apartment home to create the monthly service package,” he explains.

In turn, Cedar Crest has more control and can soften unexpected rate hikes in one area or another. “A solid, predictable amount goes to the local community and keeps the monthly service package at a reasonable cost for the middle income retiree,” Harsel says.

Stainton says more municipalities will stay under the 4% growth rate in 2008 after school budgets are drafted in the winter and municipality budgets are drafted in the spring. Still, decreases in property taxes are still a long way off.

What’s in store for 2008
“The cap is a guideline for local officials (state officials don’t control school or town budgets directly),” Stainton says. “State officials throughout the administration will continue to work with local and county government leaders to find ways to reduce costs and see efficiencies where possible.”

She says some of those “ways” include a new School Funding Formula and state comptroller and executive county superintendents.