The Bayonne Tax Collector’s Office announced that property tax bills for the third and fourth quarters were mailed on Thursday, August 2. The bills reflect the finances of the County of Hudson, the Bayonne Board of Education, and the City of Bayonne.
The county and the school board have already adopted budgets for the current fiscal year, and both of them have increased since 2006. The County of Hudson’s tax rate is up by twenty cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. The county’s Open Space Fund’s tax rate has increased by four cents per thousand. The Board of Education’s tax rate is up by ninety cents per thousand.
In a letter to taxpayers, Mayor Joseph V. Doria, Jr. said, “The estimated municipal portion of the property tax bill has risen since last year, because the City Council decreased the size of the bond that was required to complete the budgets for Fiscal Years 2007 and 2008. In Fiscal Year 2007, the City Council reduced the size of the bond from $25 million to $23 million. This action resulted in a $2 million tax increase in your second quarter bill. For Fiscal Year 2008, which began on July 1, 2007, the City Council has proposed reducing the bond from $23 million to $17 million. Since the City Council has adopted neither the 2008 budget nor the bond yet, it is too soon to know what the total municipal taxes will be during the new fiscal year. That is why the municipal portion of the current tax bills can be only an estimate.”
Doria continued, “In order to reduce municipal expenditures, the Administration offered incentives to senior employees to retire by a June 30, 2007. We have also submitted a plan for municipal employee layoffs to the New Jersey Department of Personnel, and are awaiting its final decision about this plan.”
Doria concluded, “The development of new property in Bayonne will improve our finances in the years ahead. Working with our friends in the U.S. Congress, we will continue to press the Army to remove the obstacles to redeveloping the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor.”
The nominal due date for the third quarter bills was Wednesday, August 1, 2007. However, there will be a grace period through Monday, August 27, 2007. That means, payments received by the close of business on Monday, August 27, 2007, will incur no interest charges. The nominal due date for the fourth quarter bills is Thursday, November 1, 2007. For the fourth quarter, there will be a grace period through Tuesday, November 13, 2007. Payments may be made by mail or in person at City Hall or at Bayonne branches of Pamrapo Savings Bank. For bank branch hours, please call 201-339-4600. By state law, third quarter payments received after the close of business on Monday, August 27, 2007, will incur interest charges dating back to Wednesday, August 1, 2007, the nominal legal due date for the third quarter. Similarly, fourth quarter payments received after the close of business on Tuesday, November 13, 2007, will incur interest charges dating back to Thursday, November 1, 2007, the nominal legal due date for the fourth quarter.
