Tax
Exempt Land Issues: Introduction and Background
October 5, 2005
Tax Exempt Land Resources Link
Introduction
The State of New Jersey permits land which
meets certain criteria to be free of real estate taxes on the land.
Land which falls into the 'tax free' category includes: U. S. Government
owned land; State owned land; land owned by tax exempt churches, schools or
other quasi-government entities; and land owned by non-profit groups which
meet strict state guidelines for the exemption process for the land and the
organization.
Land which meets the criteria for exemption
under the Garden State Preservation Trust Act also has associated with it
payments in lieu of taxes, known as PILOT funds, to the municipalities in
which the land is located.
The documents on this web site with the
general heading of "Tax Exempt Land Issues" relate to land owned by the
State of New Jersey and by non-profit organizations that meet the
requirements for PILOT funding under the exemption process.
Future articles will address certain
specifics of the Garden State Preservation Trust Act which deal with a
sliding scale of PILOT funds based upon total exempt land within a
municipality.
Other issues to be covered will be the
sunset clause of the GSPTA; the particulars of the sliding scale; plans to
amend the law for greater payment; and methods municipalities can use to
combat the exemption process. The most attractive measure available is the
doctrine of eminent domain which will be covered at length.
Background
Why would anyone bother to compile and
write about tax exempt land?
The short answer: I consider it extremely
unfair for the 1600 residents of the Downe Township--in which I live--to
carry the burden of such a high amount of exempt property.
The long answer: Downe Township, Cumberland
County, New Jersey which, as of October, 2005, has over 66% of the total
land area exempt of paying taxes. This percentage of tax exempt land makes
Downe Township the municipality with the third highest amount of land in the
whole State. Not only is the amount getting higher every year the percentage
of exempt land in Downe significantly exceeds the highest amount provided
for in the applicable law.
It bothers me greatly that so little is
being done about the situation...other than talk.
References for background
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2005/gs050726.php << Use the FIND
command which is under EDIT on your browser by entering Downe to read the
article which applies.
http://sierraactivist.org/article.php?sid=56786
http://www.miumu.com/boards/index.php?mforum=NJPinelands&s=0da3ea6d6482b5f98218799d7773a7a2&showtopic=1187&st=0&#entry5162
The above reference has a few reproductions of pertinent newspaper articles.
Source of the Information
The material presented in these pages was
sent to me as Excel spreadsheets by Robert Stokes of the Green Acres PILOT
program of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The
original material can be downloaded from the resources link.
All calculations regarding totals, ratios
and percentages are my work. Mea culpa.
The Statistics on Tax Exempt Land
in New Jersey
A Summary of Tax Exempt Land for the state
and for Cumberland County follows.
To make comparisons simpler I have rounded total acres up to the nearest
acre.
State of New Jersey Statistics
Total number of municipalities: 566
Number of municipalities having tax exempt
PILOT land: 274
Total acres (Total acres in New Jersey):
4,802,200 acres
Number of exempt acres state owned: 674,303
acres
Number of exempt acres non-profit owned:
124,858
Total Acres Tax Exempt in PILOT program:
799,161
Percent of total acres in the state which
are tax exempt: 16.64%
Cumberland County Statistics
In Cumberland County, there are only three
municipalities which do not have any tax exempt land. Those are Bridgeton,
Shiloh and Upper Deerfield.
Maurice River has the largest amount of
total land in the county with 59,861 acres. Chart I
Maurice River also has the largest amount
of State-owned with 26,628 acres. Chart II
Downe Township has the largest amount of
non-profit owned land with 7,848 acres Chart III.
Maurice River has the largest amount of
total land tax exempt in the county with 30,382. Chart IV.
Downe Township has the largest percentage
of tax exempt land in the county with 66.39%. This number is the third
highest percentage of land in the entire state.
Chart I: Data displayed in Total Acres
order
|
Municipality |
Total Acres |
State Owned |
Non-Profit |
Total Tax Exempt |
% Tax Exempt |
|
MAURICE RIVER TWP |
59,861 |
26,628.03 |
3,754.07 |
30,382.10 |
50.75% |
|
VINELAND CITY |
44,157 |
3,598.54 |
473.78 |
4,072.32 |
9.22% |
|
DOWNE TWP |
34,049 |
14,756.19 |
7,848.60 |
22,604.79 |
66.39% |
|
MILLVILLE CITY |
28,169 |
5,600.65 |
1,040.70 |
6,641.35 |
23.58% |
|
FAIRFIELD TWP |
27,057 |
6,272.89 |
2,733.52 |
9,006.41 |
33.29% |
|
LAWRENCE TWP |
24,012 |
8,073.12 |
2,135.82 |
10,208.94 |
42.52% |
|
COMMERCIAL TWP |
20,864 |
5,703.20 |
510.18 |
6,213.38 |
29.78% |
|
UPPER DEERFIELD |
19,953 |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
0.00% |
|
HOPEWELL TWP |
19,399 |
500.96 |
23.66 |
524.62 |
2.70% |
|
STOW CREEK TWP |
12,023 |
1,671.83 |
|
1,671.83 |
13.91% |
|
GREENWICH TWP |
11,561 |
22.80 |
|
22.80 |
0.20% |
|
DEERFIELD TWP |
10,859 |
76.86 |
|
76.86 |
0.71% |
|
BRIDGETON CITY |
4,053 |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
0.00% |
|
SHILOH BORO |
759 |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
0.00% |
Chart II: Data displayed by State-owned
exempt land order
|
Municipality |
Total Acres |
State Owned |
Non-Profit |
Total Tax Exempt |
% Tax Exempt |
|
MAURICE RIVER TWP |
59,861 |
26,628.03 |
3,754.07 |
30,382.10 |
50.75% |
|
DOWNE TWP |
34,049 |
14,756.19 |
7,848.60 |
22,604.79 |
66.39% |
|
LAWRENCE TWP |
24,012 |
8,073.12 |
2,135.82 |
10,208.94 |
42.52% |
|
FAIRFIELD TWP |
27,057 |
6,272.89 |
2,733.52 |
9,006.41 |
33.29% |
|
COMMERCIAL TWP |
20,864 |
5,703.20 |
510.18 |
6,213.38 |
29.78% |
|
MILLVILLE CITY |
28,169 |
5,600.65 |
1,040.70 |
6,641.35 |
23.58% |
|
VINELAND CITY |
44,157 |
3,598.54 |
473.78 |
4,072.32 |
9.22% |
|
STOW CREEK TWP |
12,023 |
1,671.83 |
|
1,671.83 |
13.91% |
|
HOPEWELL TWP |
19,399 |
500.96 |
23.66 |
524.62 |
2.70% |
|
DEERFIELD TWP |
10,859 |
76.86 |
|
76.86 |
0.71% |
|
GREENWICH TWP |
11,561 |
22.80 |
|
22.80 |
0.20% |
|
UPPER DEERFIELD |
19,953 |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
0.00% |
|
BRIDGETON CITY |
4,053 |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
0.00% |
|
SHILOH BORO |
759 |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
0.00% |
Chart III: Data displayed by non-profit
exempt land order
|
Municipality |
Total Acres |
State Owned |
Non-Profit |
Total Tax Exempt |
% Tax Exempt |
|
DOWNE TWP |
34,049 |
14,756.19 |
7,848.60 |
22,604.79 |
66.39% |
|
MAURICE RIVER TWP |
59,861 |
26,628.03 |
3,754.07 |
30,382.10 |
50.75% |
|
FAIRFIELD TWP |
27,057 |
6,272.89 |
2,733.52 |
9,006.41 |
33.29% |
|
LAWRENCE TWP |
24,012 |
8,073.12 |
2,135.82 |
10,208.94 |
42.52% |
|
MILLVILLE CITY |
28,169 |
5,600.65 |
1,040.70 |
6,641.35 |
23.58% |
|
COMMERCIAL TWP |
20,864 |
5,703.20 |
510.18 |
6,213.38 |
29.78% |
|
VINELAND CITY |
44,157 |
3,598.54 |
473.78 |
4,072.32 |
9.22% |
|
HOPEWELL TWP |
19,399 |
500.96 |
23.66 |
524.62 |
2.70% |
|
STOW CREEK TWP |
12,023 |
1,671.83 |
|
1,671.83 |
13.91% |
|
DEERFIELD TWP |
10,859 |
76.86 |
|
76.86 |
0.71% |
|
GREENWICH TWP |
11,561 |
22.80 |
|
22.80 |
0.20% |
|
UPPER DEERFIELD |
19,953 |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
0.00% |
|
BRIDGETON CITY |
4,053 |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
0.00% |
|
SHILOH BORO |
759 |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
0.00% |
Chart IV: Data displayed by total exempt
land order
|
Municipality |
Total Acres |
State Owned |
Non-Profit |
Total Tax Exempt |
% Tax Exempt |
|
MAURICE RIVER TWP |
59,861 |
26,628.03 |
3,754.07 |
30,382.10 |
50.75% |
|
DOWNE TWP |
34,049 |
14,756.19 |
7,848.60 |
22,604.79 |
66.39% |
|
LAWRENCE TWP |
24,012 |
8,073.12 |
2,135.82 |
10,208.94 |
42.52% |
|
FAIRFIELD TWP |
27,057 |
6,272.89 |
2,733.52 |
9,006.41 |
33.29% |
|
MILLVILLE CITY |
28,169 |
5,600.65 |
1,040.70 |
6,641.35 |
23.58% |
|
COMMERCIAL TWP |
20,864 |
5,703.20 |
510.18 |
6,213.38 |
29.78% |
|
VINELAND CITY |
44,157 |
3,598.54 |
473.78 |
4,072.32 |
9.22% |
|
STOW CREEK TWP |
12,023 |
1,671.83 |
|
1,671.83 |
13.91% |
|
HOPEWELL TWP |
19,399 |
500.96 |
23.66 |
524.62 |
2.70% |
|
DEERFIELD TWP |
10,859 |
76.86 |
|
76.86 |
0.71% |
|
GREENWICH TWP |
11,561 |
22.80 |
|
22.80 |
0.20% |
|
UPPER DEERFIELD |
19,953 |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
0.00% |
|
BRIDGETON CITY |
4,053 |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
0.00% |
|
SHILOH BORO |
759 |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
0.00% |
Within the next day or two I will be
presenting data on the State-wide tax exempt issues.
Please visit soon!
|
