by Jeff Johnson Jr.
In case anyone else is confused, here's the state's latest update on the process for applying for a 2007 Homestead property tax rebate. Fair warning: If you're already confused, you're likely to be confused more by following that link. Let me see if I can clarify. No, I won't bother. Let me demonstrate to you how confusing it is (as if you don't already know).
Apparently, if you're a homeowner over age 65, the deadline has been extended to August 15 from June 2. If you're like me and you're not over 65, the deadline has not been extended. But don't fret—that's because you weren't eligible to file yet at all. You only have to file early if you're old. In fact, you're not allowed to file early unless you're old. But then again, you don't have to file early if you're old, after all. I guess. I mean, if you're old, you're allowed to file early, but you're not required to—anymore, I mean.
Actually, if you're not old, you don't even have an application yet. That will come in the mail—if you're a homeowner.
If you're not a homeowner, but rather a tenant, you're still eligible for a property tax rebate—yes, it's true, since your landlord probably passes the property tax on to you in your rent—but you should have already filed the application with your state taxes, so the deadline was April 15. Unless you filed for an extension, in which case your application for the rebate was automatically also extended. I think.
In any case, if you're a tenant, this April 15 deadline was true whether you are over 65 or not. So, if you own a home, and you're over 65, the deadline to file has been extended, but if you're a tenant and you're over 65, the deadline has not been extended, unless you asked for it to be extended.
Wait, I just realized that all of the rules for people who are over 65 also apply if you're under 65 and disabled.
Got all that?
If you're able to parse all of that information, then maybe you can explain to me why we in the Garden State have to go through this ritual every year, anyway. Let me see if I understand it: Our municipalities have had to raise property taxes—in part, though clearly there are other reasons—because they cannot count on the same amount of assistance from the state and federal government anymore.
So, the state, which has trimmed its budget over the years to offer less assistance to the municipalities, instead pays cash to taxpayers who live in those municipalities to make up for the extra taxes they pay to the municipality due to less assistance from the state—and the federal government, who is at least customer-service-oriented enough to simply dump their version of this shell game directly into my bank account.
Not only are we robbing Peter to pay Paul the money he owes Peter, we've set up a costly administrative bureaucracy to accomplish the task that wouldn't be as necessary if we didn't have so much bureaucracy.
I guess at this point I should clarify what I meant in my earlier comments that "this is not a political blog." I guess what I meant was that this is a nonpartisan blog. A long succession of politicians from both major parties is responsible for getting us to where we are today.
New Jersey has a lot of annoyances that make life here endearing. This isn't one of them. This is just sick.
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