Dear Kearny Taxpayer:

Your tax bills for the 3rd and 4th quarters of calendar year 2018 and the 1st and 2nd quarters of calendar year 2019 are enclosed. The due date for the 3rd quarter tax bill is September 4, 2018. By State law, quarterly payments received after that date will incur interest from August 1, 2018. If you would like to pay your taxes in person, the Tax Collector’s Office at Town Hall will be open late until 7 p.m. on September 4, 2018.

For the first time in 17 years, your calendar year property taxes have decreased. One of the reasons is growing tax revenues from strong real estate valuations. In addition, annual payments to the Town in lieu of taxes, which were used to spur economic redevelopment on Passaic Avenue, Bergen Avenue and South Kearny, will soon exceed $1 million. Revenues also improved because the State has made the Town whole for tax sharing payments due from the Meadowlands District. On the cost side of the municipal budget, the Town Council and I have managed to keep overall expenditures flat for the fifth year in a row.

As you may know, while Kearny’s Town government is charged with the responsibility of collecting property taxes, the Town of Kearny keeps only 38% of taxes collected to pay for municipal services. About 15% of the amount collected is sent to the County of Hudson and 47% is sent to the Kearny School District. For all of calendar year 2018, the portion of your tax bill that pays for municipal services decreases 1.7%, which is a reduction of $69 on a residential property with an average assessment. Because of strong real estate valuations in Hudson County, the County’s taxes decrease by 4.5%, for a reduction of $76. Kearny School taxes are flat year-to-year.