WASHINGTON — Believe it or not, property taxes in Cape May County are the second lowest in the state. That distinction, however, is bittersweet as New Jersey taxes are the highest in the country by far.
According to a survey of the largest U.S. counties released Sept. 22 by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Tax Foundation, the median property taxes in 2008 for owner-occupied homes in this county were $3,598, which ranked 84th highest in the country. In New Jersey, only Cumberland County had lower median property taxes — $3,407.
The national median, however, is $1,897, according to a release.
A median figure is the number separating the higher half of a sample from the lower half.
Last year, the median home value in this county was $351,000, which placed it directly in the center of the state’s 21 counties — 10 counties had higher home values and 10 lower.
Taxes in this county are 1 percent of home value, which is right at the national median.
In 2008, property taxes were 5.5 percent of the median income for homeowners in this county, $65,555. That percentage was the second lowest in New Jersey, again to Cumberland County (5.2 percent), but 46th highest nationwide. Only Cumberland and Atlantic counties had lower median incomes than this county.
This state had 13 of the top 20 highest property taxes in the country with Hunterdon ($8,492) and Bergen ($8,446) counties near the top of the list. New Jersey’s median taxes paid ($6,320) topped the nation followed in a distant second by Connecticut’s $4,603.
The state also had half of the top ten highest taxes as a percentage of median income. Passaic County’s 8.7 percent was the highest in the country.
The Tax Foundation is an organization that has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937. The group used U.S. Census Bureau figures to compile this survey.
The Tax Foundation is the same organization that released a report on “Business-Friendliness” of state tax systems, which ranked New Jersey as the worst in the country.
According to a release, the report measured the competitiveness of the states’ tax systems and ranked them based on taxes that matter most to business: corporate income, individual income, sales, property and unemployment insurance taxes. New Jersey ranked at or near the bottom in a majority of those taxes.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com
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