Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ROY FREIMAN
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblyman VINCENT MAZZEO
District 2 (Atlantic)
Assemblywoman JOANN DOWNEY
District 11 (Monmouth)
Senator PAUL A. SARLO
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Benson, Assemblywomen Murphy, Pinkin, Mosquera and Assemblyman Houghtaling
SYNOPSIS
Permits taxpayers to make dedicated prepayment toward anticipated property taxes.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the prepayment of property taxes, amending R.S.54:4-68, and supplementing chapter 4 of Title 54 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.54:4-68 is amended as follows:
[When the governing body of a municipality shall by resolution so direct, the] The officer charged with the collection of taxes or assessments shall receive the tax or assessment due or to become due for any current year at any time during the year as provided in this section and section 54:4-69 of this title. The payments may be made on the basis of taxes and assessments levied for the preceding year and may be paid in full, or in installments in amounts of not less than one dollar or multiples thereof. The collecting officer shall issue a receipt therefor and credit the amount paid to the account of any tax or assessment so levied or to be levied.
(cf: R.S.54:4-68)
2. (New Section) a. For the purposes of this section:
“Dedicated prepayment” means a payment toward an anticipated quarterly installment property tax and assessment obligation that is made prior to the issuance of the tax bill for that installment.
“Tax collector” means a municipal officer charged with the collection of taxes.
b. Notwithstanding any provision of law or regulation to the contrary, when a taxpayer makes a dedicated prepayment, the tax collector shall issue a receipt therefor, and shall credit the amount received toward the amount to become due and payable by the taxpayer for the dedicated installment. The dedicated prepayment shall be made payable to the tax collector and shall explicitly and conspicuously indicate the installment to which the payment shall be credited.
c. (1) When the amount paid in a dedicated prepayment exceeds the total property tax and assessment levied for the dedicated installment, the tax collector shall, within 30 days of the issuance of the tax bill, refund the taxpayer the amount of the excess. When, upon issuing the tax bill for a dedicated installment, the tax collector determines that the dedicated prepayment is insufficient to equal the total property tax and assessment levied, the difference due and payable shall be paid or collected as other taxes are collected.
(2) When a mortgagee pays any property tax and assessment installment for the mortgaged premises, and the owner of the mortgaged premises also makes a dedicated prepayment toward the installment, the tax collector shall, within 30 days of the issuance of the tax bill, refund the owner of the mortgaged premises the amount in excess of the tax and assessment levied.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be retroactive to July 1, 2017.
STATEMENT
This bill permits a property taxpayer to prepay any quarterly property tax installment prior to the issuance of the tax bill for that installment.
Under current law, a municipal tax collector is only required to receive prepayments toward any property tax or assessment if the governing body of a municipality has passed a resolution to that effect. In that event, a property taxpayer may issue prepayments, either in whole or in part, on the basis of taxes and assessments levied for the preceding tax year. The tax collector also is required to issue a receipt therefor and credit the amount paid to the account of any tax or assessment levied. The bill amends current law to permit property taxpayers to make prepayments toward property tax and assessments at any time during the year without prior authorization from the governing body of the municipality.
The bill further provides that early property tax payments may be made through dedicated prepayments. A dedicated prepayment is defined in the bill as a payment toward an anticipated quarterly installment property tax and assessment obligation that is made prior to the issuance of the tax bill for that installment. A dedicated prepayment is to be payable to the tax collector and explicitly and conspicuously indicate the property tax installment to which it is to be credited.
Upon receiving a dedicated prepayment, the tax collector is required, under this bill, to issue a receipt of payment and credit the amount paid toward the indicated installment. If the amount paid in a dedicated prepayment exceeds the total property tax and assessment levied for the installment, the bill requires the tax collector to refund the excess amount within 30 days of the issuance of the tax bill for that installment. In addition, when a mortgage company pays a property tax for the mortgaged premises, and the property owner has made a dedicated prepayment toward that tax, the tax collector is to refund the property owner the amount in excess of the tax and assessment levied. If the amount paid in a dedicated prepayment is insufficient to equal the total property tax and assessment levied, the difference due and payable is to be collected or paid as other taxes are collected.
The bill is to take effect immediately and be retroactive to July 1, 2017. The provisions of this bill are to apply to any property taxpayer who attempted to prepay a third or fourth quarter property tax installment for tax year 2018 in calendar year 2017, prior to the issuance of an actual tax bill in for that installment.