From the Daily Record:
The average property tax bill in New Jersey topped $6,300 last year, a 7 percent increase in what were already the nation’s highest property taxes, according to new state figures.
Even as Gov. Jon S. Corzine and legislators spent five months looking for ways to cut property taxes, the average bill rose from $5,914 in 2005 to $6,331 in 2006, according to numbers compiled by the state Department of Community Affairs.
The 7 percent increase last year was a bit less than in 2005, when property taxes — used to fund most county, municipal and school operations in the state — increased 7.3 percent.
The average Garden State property tax bill has increased from $4,961 in 2002, according to the DCA figures.
In all, $20.9 billion in property taxes was collected in 2006 in New Jersey, where property taxes are twice the national average.
…
The governor’s budget proposal also includes a $2.3 billion plan to cut property taxes by 20 percent for most homeowners. As the centerpiece of last year’s reform effort, it would provide a 20 percent cut to homeowners who earn up to $100,000; a 15 percent cut for homeowners who earn up to $150,000; and a 10 percent cut for homeowners who earn up to $250,000.The plan, which Corzine has not yet signed into law, would provide an average $1,051 tax cut for homeowners.
Renters would also see tax help increased, with some getting more than four times as much property tax relief as they got last year.
Monmouth/Ocean County Real Estate Mogul
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061102/NEWS/611020400
Kara Homes bankruptcy !!!
Real Estate mess
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770228013
A House Unsold, the Dream Dims
With the boom now a memory, a Denver neighborhood spirals downward
By Alex Markels
Posted 2/25/07
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/070225/5foreclosures.htm
Subprime Lender->
Fremont Delays Report; Shares Tumble
Wednesday February 28, 3:56 pm ET
Fremont General Shares Drop More Than 20 Percent After Company Delays 4Q Earnings Report
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Fremont General Corp. fell sharply Wednesday to hit a new 52-week low after the mortgage lender said late Tuesday it will delay reporting financial results for the fourth quarter.
Fremont, one of the largest providers of mortgage loans through brokers and lenders to people with poor credit histories, saw its shares tank $2.66, or 22.8 percent, to $8.99 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock traded as low as $8.95 earlier in the session, far below its previous 52-week low of $11.65.
Fremont also said it will not file its 2006 annual report by the March 1 regulatory deadline.
The company said it would give an explanation for the delay in a regulatory filing. The Securities and Exchange Commission had not received any such filing by mid-afternoon.
A company spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
The “subprime” mortgage industry, or the sector of mortgage banking targeting people with blemished credit, is in upheaval. A handful of companies said more borrowers are missing payments on their mortgages, hurting the value of these companies’ loan portfolios.
The slowing housing market has put further pressure on the lenders since the value of the collateral backing the loans is deteriorating at the same time the loans themselves are becoming riskier.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070228/fremont_general_mover.html?.v=1
I’m sorry Mr Corzine your “Rebate” is a insult to every taxpayer Property taxes are NOT to be baised on income ,however your tax rebate clearly is .you are a disgrace to us all ,you have no backbone please resign so someone with resolv can stand up to the special intrest groups ,you have made it a sad to live in new Jersey
Posted Yesterday, but this may be a better spot…
Did ‘800-lb. gorillas’ sit on property tax reform?
Democrats say contributions by powerful special interest groups didn’t affect their votes
Star Ledger http://tinyurl.com/2dmn39
Hours before they were scheduled to consider a controversial package of bills aimed at reining in local property taxes on Dec. 14, top Democrats in the state Assembly hosted the state’s lobbyists at a breakfast — for $1,000 a head.
The “Breakfast Reception Honoring the Assembly Democratic Caucus” raised funds for this November’s legislative election campaigns, including at least $12,000 from state worker unions and thousands more from other groups concerned about cost-cutting provisions in property tax reform bills.
That evening, the Assembly adjourned without taking action on the most substantial of the reform measures.
…
Lobbying reports released yesterday show groups with the biggest stake in property tax reform spent more than $1.9 million last year to influence lawmakers. At the same time, key legislators extracted nearly $569,000 in campaign contributions from the same groups.
Labor unions, teachers, contractors, school officials, mayors, business groups — the “800-pound gorillas” that Gov. Jon Corzine exhorted lawmakers to resist in their drive for tax reform — kept the heat on throughout the long special session.
Lobbying expenditures by two prominent unions — the New Jersey Education Association, representing teachers, and the Communications Workers of America, representing state workers — topped $675,000 last year, state Election Law Enforcement Commission reports show. That was double what the two groups spent pressing their issues in Trenton in 2005, according to ELEC records.
The two unions, which staged a noisy Statehouse rally of 7,000 protesters in December, also added $335,000 in campaign contributions to the cost of the effort. That pushed their total expenditures to more than $1 million last year.
The union leaders said the efforts were needed to preserve their benefits. They maintain they did not get everything they wanted.
…
YO PEOPLE.
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY WAS OVER A 2CENT TAX
WAKE THE F UP. PROTEST
LOL.. this time next year you’ll wish it was ONLY 7%…with the new budget I see taxes up 9% to 14%..enjoy your summer folks and save for the future