First N.J. property tax rebate checks are going out

Senior and disabled homeowners in New Jersey will soon receive state Homestead Rebates averaging about $1,300, Gov. Corzine's office said today.

The program benefits about 540,000 recipients.

Applications for rebates for other households eligible for rebates - all those with incomes below $75,000 - were being mailed this week and are due Sept. 1.

Homeowners with incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 will receive checks averaging about $700, while those with incomes below $50,000 will receive rebates averaging $900. Those payments will be issued in October.

Last year, the rebates went to homeowners earning up to $150,000. But due to the state's budget crisis, about 500,000 homeowners who got checks last year are ineligible under the new income rules and roughly and 700,000 renters have been dropped from the program.