The Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. August 21, 2017 (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
By Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media
New Jersey may have notoriously high property taxes to fund its schools and local governments but a large chunk of properties in the state are actually tax exempt. That's about $157 billion worth of land that houses schools, churches, cemeteries, nonprofits, government offices or federally protected fields, state data show.
The exemptions constitute about 13 percent of all property value in the state -- with a handful of towns having as much (or more) tax exempt property as taxable land, according to 2017 records from the Department of Community Affairs.
Towns with highest values of tax-exempt properties are not surprisingly some of the larger cities like Newark, Jersey City and Lakewood. But also some of the cities that can afford it the least.
But when you look at tax-exempt properties in proportion to a municipality's taxable land, some of New Jersey's smallest towns have the largest percentage of tax-exempt properties.
Those towns range from municipalities with several acres of open space or county seats with an excess of government buildings. Take Walpack in Sussex County: While it has $2.6 million in taxable property, more than $30 million is tax-exempt.
Here is a list of the 15 towns with the most value in tax-exempt properties when compared to what's on the tax rolls.
Burlington County
15. Washington Township
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 42 percent
Taxable property: $95 million
Tax-exempt property: $69.7 million
- School property:$3 million
- Public property: $65.2 million
- Church/charitable properties: $466,700
- Other: $1 million
Wharton State Forest is partly located in Washington Township.
Hudson County
14. Jersey City
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 43 percent
Taxable property: $6.2 billion
Tax-exempt property: $4.6 billion
- School property:$376 million
- Public property: $1.3 billion
- Church/charitable properties: $250 million
- Cemeteries: $35 million
- Other: $2.6 billion
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County and home to Liberty State Park.
Hudson County
13. West New York
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 43 percent
Taxable property: $905 million
Tax-exempt property: $678.5 million
- School property:$54 million
- Public property: $85.9 million
- Church/charitable properties: $17.6 million
- Other: $520 million
West New York has several waterfront developments that are under PILOT agreements (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes).
Sussex County
12. Sandyston
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 44 percent
Taxable property: $226 million
Tax-exempt property: $179 million
- School property:$17.5 million
- Public property: $157 million
- Church/charitable properties: $2 million
- Cemeteries: $315,900
- Other: $2.4 million
Sandyston is home to many parks, including part of Stokes State Forest.
Essex County
11. Newark
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 48 percent
Taxable property: $12.2 billion
Tax-exempt property: $11.3 billion
- School property:$2.7 billion
- Public property: $5.4 billion
- Church/charitable properties: $1.1 billion
- Cemeteries: $109.8 million
- Other: $2 billion
Newark is the county seat and has six universities or colleges, several hospitals, and city, county, state, and federal facilities, city spokesman Frank Baraff said.
"The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns Newark Liberty International Airport and Seaport, which combined make up one-third of the city’s actual land, and their payments-in-lieu of taxes cannot be changed," Baraff said.
"The city has worked and is continuing to work with organizations that are not taxed to voluntarily provide 'in-kind' services to support municipal programs to relieve residents to tax burdens and make these organizations part of our efforts to effectively and efficiently deliver services to residents."
Union County
10. Elizabeth
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 50 percent
Taxable property: $903 million
Tax-exempt property: $898 million
- School property:$104 million
- Public property: $144 million
- Church/charitable properties: $61.5 million
- Cemeteries: $2.4 million
- Other: $585 million
The Elizabeth Marine Terminal, run by the Port Authority is located in Elizabeth.
Bergen County
9. Teterboro
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 50 percent
Taxable property: $422 million
Tax-exempt property: $430 million
- School property:$13 million
- Public property: $44 million
- Other: $374 million
The Teterboro Airport, run by the Port Authority, is located here.
Cumberland County
8. Bridgeton City
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 51 percent
Taxable property: $490 million
Tax-exempt property: $502 million
- School property:$47 million
- Public property: $354 million
- Church/charitable properties: $53 million
- Cemeteries: $1 million
- Other: $47.3 million
Bridgeton is the seat of Cumberland County and has several municipal parks, which include the Cohanzick Zoo.
Mercer County
7. Trenton
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 52 percent
Taxable property: $2.4 billion
Tax-exempt property: $2.6 billion
- School property:$250 million
- Public property: $1.7 billion
- Church/charitable properties: $185 million
- Cemeteries: $4 million
- Other: $487 million
As the capital city, Trenton has many exempt state buildings.
Bergen County
6. East Rutherford
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 54 percent
Taxable property: $1.9 billion
Tax-exempt property: $2.2 billion
- School property:$33 million
- Public property: $2.1 billion
- Church/charitable properties: $13.5 million
- Other: $1.6 million
East Rutherford is home to the Meadowland Sports Complex, which includes MetLife Stadium.
Middlesex County
5. New Brunswick
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 54 percent
Taxable property: $3.4 billion
Tax-exempt property: $4 billion
- School property:$1.4 billion
- Public property: $480 million
- Church/charitable properties: $1.1 billion
- Cemeteries: $20 million
- Other: $941 million
Rutgers University is based in New Brunswick. City spokeswoman Jennifer Bradshaw said New Brunswick also has several nonprofit agencies, houses of worships and two major hospitals: Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Saint Peter’s University Hospital.
Camden County
4. Camden
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 56 percent
Taxable property: $1.7 billion
Tax-exempt property: $2.1 billion
- School property:$604 million
- Public property: $605 million
- Church/charitable properties: $605 million
- Cemeteries: $16.8 million
- Other: $317 million
Camden is the county seat and has many municipal and state buildings. It is also home to Rutgers University-Camden.
Atlantic County
3. Atlantic City
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 72 percent
Taxable property: $3.1 billion
Tax-exempt property: $7.9 billion
- School property:$158.7 million
- Public property: $2.6 billion
- Church/charitable properties: $253 million
- Other: $4.9 billion
The casinos make negotiated payments to the city (known as payments-in-lieu-of-taxes, PILOTs) instead of paying property taxes.
Sussex County
2. Walpack
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 92 percent
Taxable property: $2.6 million
Tax-exempt property: $30.9 million
- Public property: $30.5 million
- Church/charitable properties: $417,000
Mayor Victor Maglio says a large portion of the town is part of the 70,000-acre Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area that straddles both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
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Burlington County
1. New Hanover
Percent of properties tax-exempt: 94 percent
Taxable property: $63 million
Tax-exempt property: $1.05 billion
- Public property: $1 billion
- Church/charitable properties: $284,000
- Cemeteries: $81,600
The township is home to Fort Dix and part of the Pinelands National Reserve.
Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.
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