Breakdown: Where Did Your West Orange 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.

West Orange had the 15th highest property taxes in Essex County. Overall, Essex County had some of the highest tax paying towns in the state.

The average property value in for West Orange Township in 2014 came in at $337,405 with the average annual tax payment of $12,625. The property value is good for 187th in the state, while the tax payment comes in at 50th in the state.

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

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

• West Orange Township School District: $127,999,172
• Municipal Open Space Tax: $145,437
• Library Tax: $1,932,696.59
• Municipal Tax: $49,895,482.9
• Total Municipal Taxes: $51,973,616.49
• County Tax: $29,649,941.64
• Total West Orange Township Tax Used for Tax Rate: $209,622,730.13

The total figure turns into a tax rate of 3.742 in 2014, or $3.74 in taxes for every $100 of assessed property value. That rate was good enough for fifth in the county out of 22 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, West Orange? 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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