Sponsored by:
Senator NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
Senator VIN GOPAL
District 11 (Monmouth)
Senator JOSEPH A. LAGANA
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Stay NJ senior property tax credit affordability program; appropriates not more than $300 million.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act providing a property tax credit of up to one-half of property taxes due for primary residences of senior citizens in the State, supplementing chapter 4 of Title 54 of the Revised Statutes, amending P.L.1997, c.348, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) This act shall be known and may be cited as the Stay NJ Act.
2. (New section) As used in this act:
"Condominium" means the form of real property ownership provided for under the "Condominium Act," P.L.1969, c.257 (C.46:8B-1 et seq.).
"Cooperative" means a housing corporation or association which entitles the holder of a share or membership interest thereof to possess and occupy for dwelling purposes a house, apartment or other unit of housing owned or leased by the corporation or association, or to lease or purchase a unit of housing constructed or to be constructed by the corporation or association.
Director means the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury.
"Dwelling house" means any residential property assessed as real property which consists of not more than four units, of which not more than one may be used for commercial purposes, but shall not include a unit in a condominium, cooperative, horizontal property regime or mutual housing corporation.
"Eligible claimant means an individual who is 65 or more years of age and the owner of a homestead in this State on or after July 1, 2024, without regard to income.
"Homestead" means:
a. a dwelling house and the land on which that dwelling house is located which constitutes the place of the eligible claimant's domicile and is owned and used by the eligible claimant as the eligible claimant's principal residence;
b. a condominium unit or a unit in a horizontal property regime or a continuing care retirement community which constitutes the place of the eligible claimant's domicile and is owned and used by the eligible claimant as the eligible claimant's principal residence. In addition to the generally accepted meaning of "owned" or "ownership," a homestead shall be deemed to be owned by a person if that person is a tenant for life or a tenant under a lease for 99 years or more, is entitled to and actually takes possession of the homestead under an executory contract for the sale thereof or under an agreement with a lending institution which holds title as security for a loan, or is a resident of a continuing care retirement community pursuant to a contract for continuing care for the life of that person which requires the resident to bear, separately from any other charges, the proportionate share of property taxes attributable to the unit that the resident occupies; or
c. a unit in a cooperative or mutual housing corporation which constitutes the place of domicile of a residential shareholder or lessee therein, or of a lessee or shareholder who is not a residential shareholder therein, which is used by the eligible claimant as the eligible claimant's principal residence; or a mutual housing corporation.
"Homestead property tax reimbursement" means the property tax benefit provided pursuant to P.L.1997, c.348 (C.54:4-8.67 et seq).
"Horizontal property regime" means the form of real property ownership provided for under the "Horizontal Property Act," P.L.1963, c.168 (C.46:8A-1 et seq.).
"Mutual housing corporation" means a corporation not-for-profit, incorporated under the laws of this State on a mutual or cooperative basis within the scope of section 607 of the Lanham Act (National Defense Housing), Pub.L.849, (42 U.S.C. s.1521 et seq.), as amended, which acquired a National Defense Housing Project pursuant to that act.
"Principal residence" means a homestead actually and continually occupied by an eligible claimant as the eligible claimants permanent residence, including a homestead on which an eligible claimant made one or more payments in lieu of taxes to the municipality in which the homestead is located, as distinguished from a vacation home, property owned and rented or offered for rent by the eligible claimant, and other secondary real property holdings.
"Property tax" means the general property tax due and payable by the owner of a homestead, based on an assessment made by the municipality upon real property on an ad valorem basis on land and improvements, and shall include payments in lieu of taxes.
Stay NJ property tax credit means a property tax credit in the amount of 50 percent of an eligible claimants property tax bill.
"Tax year" means the calendar year, January 1 through December 31, in which a homestead is assessed for property taxation and the property tax is levied thereon.
Tax year quarter means a three month period of a tax year consisting of January 1 through March 31, April 1 through June 30, July 1 through September 30, and October 1 through December 31.
3. (New section) The director shall administer the Stay NJ property tax credit that shall provide to an eligible claimant a property tax credit in the amount of 50 percent of the property tax due and owing for the eligible claimants principal residence. Property tax credits shall be allowed pursuant to this section in relation to the property taxes paid or allocable to an eligible claimant who has more than one homestead in a tax year, but the aggregate amount of the property taxes or property tax credits claimed shall not exceed the total proportionate amounts of property taxes assessed and levied against or allocable to each homestead for the proportion of the tax year quarter to which the taxpayer occupies it as the taxpayers principle residence.
The amount of the Stay NJ property tax credit shall be calculated for each eligible claimant by the director, and paid to the tax collector of the municipality in which the eligible claimants homestead is located pursuant to the provisions of subsection a. of section 5 of P.L. , c (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
Notwithstanding the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) that require an annual property tax credit in the amount of 50 percent of the property tax due and owing on an eligible claimants homestead, the maximum amount to be credited to an eligible claimant shall be $10,000 per tax year.
An eligible claimant shall be entitled to a Stay NJ property tax credit annually, on proper claim being made therefor to the director. Notwithstanding any provision of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) to the contrary, the amount of property taxes used to determine the amount of the Stay NJ property tax credit shall not be reduced by the amount of the deductions taken by an eligible claimant pursuant to P.L.1963, c.171 (C.54:4-8.10 to 54:4-8.23) and P.L.1964, c.255 (C.54:4-8.40 to 54:4-8.45 et al.). The surviving spouse of a deceased resident of this State who during his