Governor Announces One Million Applications for Restored Homestead Property Tax Rebates Being Mailed to New Jersey’s Non-Senior Homeowners

TRENTON, NJ – July 28, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — Governor Jon S. Corzine announced today that one million middle-income New Jersey homeowners will soon receive applications for Homestead Rebates, the direct property tax relief program recently restored to the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget so that one-half of non-senior homeowners who received rebates last year could get them again this year.     

“Despite the most challenging economic period for our nation and state in modern history, we were able to restore this much-needed direct property tax relief for New Jersey’s middle-income homeowners,” Governor Corzine said. “All totaled, more than 1.5 million New Jersey senior and non-senior homeowners will receive more than $1.1 billion in rebates this year.” 

Non-senior homeowners with incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 will receive checks averaging about $700, while those non-seniors with incomes below $50,000 will receive rebate checks averaging $900.

The rebates for non-senior homeowners were restored to the budget through revenue collected from the State’s tremendously successful Tax Amnesty program, which generated about $725 million. About $428 million in property tax relief has been restored to the FY10 Budget due to the Amnesty program, with $373 million going to the rebates. The rest of the revenue from the Amnesty program will go as designed to help cover the $4 billion shortfall in the FY09 Budget.

Non-senior homeowners with incomes of $75,000 or less who were under 65 years of age and not disabled on December 31, 2008, will begin to receive their 2008 homestead rebate applications in the mail beginning Tuesday, July 28. They will qualify for a 2008 rebate if they owned a home that was their principal residence on October 1, 2008, and paid property taxes on that home.

The filing deadline for non-senior/non-disabled homeowners is September 1, 2009. Checks for non-senior, non-disabled homeowners are scheduled to be mailed in October.

This is the second of two mailings for the program this year; senior and disabled residents received their applications in May. Those who did not receive an application packet then, but who have filed with the assistance of personnel from the Department of Treasury’s Division of Taxation, may receive a packet in the coming weeks. These homeowners should not apply again if they already filed and received a confirmation number, or if they completed and mailed in a paper application.

Checks for senior and disabled homeowners who filed by the original filing deadline of June 1 are scheduled to be mailed on or about July 31, 2009; checks for those who filed after June 1 will be issued as quickly as possible. Those checks are expected to average $1,300 for those with incomes under $100,000.

With very few exceptions, the homeowner rebate applications must be filed by phone or over the Internet. Homeowners are urged to read the instructions and complete the worksheet in the rebate application packet before attempting to file. The homeowner rebate automated telephone filing system and the Internet filing application are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Once they receive their applications, homeowners can file by phone by calling 1-877-658-2972, or online at www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/

For more information about the Homestead Rebate Program homeowners may call the Homestead Rebate Hotline at 1-888-238-1233 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Homestead rebate information is also available on the Division of Taxation’s Web site at www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/homestead/hrintro.shtml and through the Division’s Automated Tax Information System at 1-800-323-4400. Text telephone service for the hearing impaired is provided at 1-800-286-6613 or 609-984-7300.

Homestead rebate applications are scheduled to be delivered to non-senior/non-disabled homeowners as follows:

County                                                                        Expected Delivery Date

Cape May, Union                                                                     July 27

Gloucester, Mercer, Middlesex, Passaic                                    July 28

Morris, Ocean                                                                          July 31

Bergen, Burlington, Cumberland, Warren                                  August 3

Camden, Hudson, Hunterdon, Salem, Somerset                        August 4

Atlantic, Essex, Monmouth, Sussex                                           August 7

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For More Information:
Robert Corrales
Phone: 609-777-2600