23 Jul Has the Senior Freeze income cutoff been increased?

Q. Has the property tax freeze been increased to incomes of $90,000?
— Senior

A. You’re talking about the Senior Freeze program.

According to the website of the New Jersey Department of Treasury, Division of Taxation: “The Senior Freeze Program reimburses eligible senior citizens and disabled persons for property tax or mobile home park site fee increases on their principal residence. To qualify, you must meet ALL the eligibility requirements for each year from the base year (the year in which you became eligible for the senior freeze) through the application year (the current application year is 2018).”

These eligibility requirements are based on age/disability, residency, home ownership, property taxes payment history and income limits.

In this year’s budget, funding for the Senior Freeze program is increasing by $18 million in fiscal year 2020 for a total of $219.7 million, Taxation said.

The increase was because the budget removed language that capped income eligibility at $70,000, raising it back to $89,013, which will allow more people to apply, Taxation said.

Keep in mind that if your status is as a married/civil union couple and you lived in the same household, you must combine your incomes for the year and be below the income limits, said Deva Panambur, a certified financial planner with Sarsi, LLC in West New York. and adjunct professor of personal finance at Montclair State University.

The Division of Taxation has an online questionnaire to help you check your eligibility.

Email your questions to .

This story was originally published on July 23, 2019.

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