Breakdown: Where Did Your Westfield Taxes Go In 2014?

New Jersey, land of the property tax.

But where does that money go, and what is it used for?

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs this week released its complete breakdown of each municipality’s tax payments to schools, libraries, counties, and open space sections.

Westfield has the second highest property taxes in Union County. Several Union County towns were among the highest tax paying towns in the state.

The average property value for Westfield in 2014 came in at $179,851 with the average annual tax payment of $15,389. The property value is good for 420th in the state, while the tax payment comes in at 22nd in the state.

A total of 566 municipalities in New Jersey were included in the data breakdown.

But where did your Westfield property taxes go in 2014? Here’s a breakdown for Westfield Township:

• Westfield Public School District: $91,815,746
• Library Tax: $938,919.93
• Municipal Tax: $10,836,243.02
• Total Municipal Taxes: $2,417,777
• County Tax: $37,799,638.60
• Total Westfield Township Tax Used for Tax Rate: $158,218,679.84

The total figure turns into a tax rate of 8.577 in 2014, or $8.58 in taxes for every $100 of assessed property value. That rate was good enough for 8th in the county out of 21 municipalities.

County, municipal, and school districts are subject to a 2-percent tax levy cap each year, which prohibits each body from exceeding the previous year’s budget by two-percent. In the case that a town or school district needs to surpass the limit, a vote must be put to the public. Health and pension costs supplied by the town or school district to its employees is exempt from the tax cap.

So, what do you think, Westfield? How does your town stack up against the rest of the county? How about the rest of the state? Are you happy with the numbers are do you think something needs to change?

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Westfield* Clark-Garwood* Cranford* New Providence-Berkeley Heights * Scotch Plains-Fanwood* Springfield* Summit* Chatham* West Orange

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