For a typical Lakewood duplex assessed at approximately $500,000, the municipal portion of the property tax has increased dramatically over the past five years. Based on the municipal tax rates, the municipal tax would have been approximately $3,455 in 2021 compared with approximately $4,895 in 2026 an increase of about $1,440 per year, or 41.7%. The increase in 2026 alone is approximately $720, or $60 more per month. Total approximately $14,000 a year.
And this comes at a time when the Township has sent residents a confusing tax bill marked “for advice only,” without clearly stating when the amount is actually due.
Look at where the money is going: approximately 23% of the total property tax bill goes to the county, 36.8% goes to the school tax, 35% goes to the municipality, and about 4.9% goes to the fire district. The municipal portion is now almost as large as the school tax portion. For a $500,000-assessed duplex, that means nearly $4,900 a year just for the municipal portion.
At the same time, Lakewood parents are paying an average of roughly $5,000 a year in school taxes through their property taxes, while not even receiving courtesy busing, and paying an additional $700 per child for transportation. That raises a basic question: What are property taxpayers getting for the taxes they are already paying?
With the municipal portion alone rising by roughly 42% in five years, residents have every right to ask for accountability, transparency and answers about spending.
And with the Township Committee election coming up, now is the time for residents to pay attention, ask questions where's all the money going?
Officials keep blaming everyone else but themselves while they were in charge for the last 20 years.
Stop voting the same people in, year after year.
ReplyDeleteCAN YOU PLEASE SHARE WITH US WHERE IN LAKEWOOD CAN ONE FIND A DUPLEX FOR 500K? WHY CAN'T YOU GIVE EXAMPLES OF 800K OR 1 MILLION DOLLARS?
ReplyDeleteAssesments are different than what the properties are sold for
DeleteBecause that's not how assessments work.
DeleteHe means assessed for $500,000
DeleteThe only Solution Is to Vote Abe Schubert School Board President!
ReplyDeleteTownship ran out of propertes to sell - while the properties that were sold for the last 20 years all have tax abatements!
ReplyDeleteThis is all Bibi the Zionist's fault - he is arresting yeshiva bochurim. This is why we have such high taxes in Lakewood. We are being punished for Bibi's aveiros.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Tziyonim are responsible for Lakewood taxes.
DeleteThey're also responsible for giyus.
You guys voted for this. For the 22 years I’m in this town the lone voice against the establishment was Harold H and nobody cared. You kept voting for the same bums, and he was vilified endlessly. So here we are.
ReplyDeletedoes HUD pay for people on HUD their taxes?
ReplyDeleteWE NEED TO FIX THE FORMULA @ABE
ReplyDeleteDon’t blame the people blame those who tell them who to vote for. The problem is that people can be trusting and gullible, believing that the powers-that-be who tell and instruct them how to vote actually have their best interests in mind.
ReplyDeleteThat’s why you end up with a Lakewood tzibbur voting blindly, holding a card with the “chosen” candidates already filled in, rather than independently evaluating the candidates and making their own informed decisions.
Yes, I also received that "non-bill" that was "for advice only" and I had no clue what was going on there, as it clearly was deliberately written ambiguously in order that nobody should understand its content. I still have no clue, but I know one thing for certain: another theft by the township, another corrupt and illegal money-grab. Every time this happens I think of moving out of Lakewood. It's absolutely insane paying for the huge salaries of the teachers of Lakewood's decrepit schools
ReplyDelete