18 Nov We missed the Senior Freeze deadline because of travel. Can we appeal?

Q. We missed our Senior Freeze filing date due to travel out of state. Would this reason be considered for an appeal for a late application?
— Homeowner

A. The only way to know is to try.

But we know from past statements from the Treasury Department that you shouldn’t count on it.

“Taxpayers who file a Senior Freeze application past the deadline will be denied, as per the law, but they will be given the opportunity to appeal and provide documentation as to why they filed late,” said an agency spokesperson. “In some instances, such as medical reasons, they can be granted a timely filing.”

But applying anyway — just in case — is important, because you don’t want to lose your base year if it can be avoided.

Let’s say you first got the Senior Freeze years ago when your property taxes were $7,000 a year. Then imagine your tax bill has gone up each year since, and it’s not $8,500.

Your Senior Freeze benefit was based on that $7,500 figure, and if you end up skipping a year, you could get stuck with the higher $8,500 figure as your base year — so you’ll lose out.

Also keep in mind that changes are coming with the new Stay NJ program, which is supposed to start paying out in 2026. This will mean different benefit levels and new deadlines.

Stay NJ, in conjunction with ANCHOR and Senior Freeze, is designed to cut property taxes by up to 50%, capped at $6,500, for residents 65 and older in New Jersey who earn less than $500,000 a year.

There will be one application for all the benefits, which is supposed to be available as of Feb. 1 with a deadline of Oct. 31 each year.

We will know more about whether the program will happen as scheduled when the Legislature negotiates the state budget this summer.

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This story was originally published in November 2024.

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