Executive Order Follows Senate President’s Call for State to Enable Residents to Prepay 2018 Property Taxes by December 31Before New Federal Limits Hit
TRENTON – Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) today thanked Governor Christie for issuing Executive Order 237 directing the Director of the Division of Local Government Services to exercise his statutory authority to require municipalities to accept prepayment of 2018 property taxes by December 31, 2017, before the new $10,000 limit on the federal income tax deductibility of state and local taxes takes effect.
“Thanks to this Executive Order, New Jerseyans who lose the ability to deduct most or all of their state and local taxes under the Republican tax bill signed into law by President Trump will at least have the option of pre-paying their 2018 property taxes and deducting it from their 2017 federal income tax,” Senator Sweeney said.
“This Executive Order will not only save thousands of dollars for countless New Jersey families, but also provide municipalities with a prepayment windfall that they will be able to invest and use the interest for the benefit of their taxpayers. Many municipal officials have already been accepting prepayments and are making plans to keep their tax offices open Saturday for the convenience of their residents. We are grateful for their hard work,” he said.
Four days ago, Senator Sweeney urged the Director of Local Government Services to exercise his statutory authority to instruct municipalities on how to accept prepayment of the full 2018 property taxes by December 31 to enable New Jerseyans to deduct those payments from their 2017 federal income tax bills.
“The additional tax savings we can provide many New Jerseyans by authorizing these prepayments does not take away from the unfairness of a Republican tax bill that intentionally targets Democratic states by limiting the deductibility of state and local income and property taxes that has been part of the federal tax code since 1913. Taxing people on their taxes is double taxation, which conservatives are supposedly against. We need to do everything we can in the future to get the state and local tax deduction restored,’ Senator Sweeney said.