Camden city officials vote to raise property taxes 23%
Camden property taxes have not gone up since the 1990s, and the city is trying to make up for lost time.
Camden property taxes have not gone up since the 1990s, and the city is trying to make up for lost time.
City Council approved a measure at a special meeting Wednesday that, if given the final OK by the state, would allow the city to raise municipal property taxes 23 percent over last year's.
City officials did not say whether they intended to use the new revenue, which will be due May 1, to bring back the more than 300 city workers, mostly police officers and firefighters, laid off last week.
The request to waive the cap on property taxes would increase the levy $160 for the average home, assessed at $26,000. In addition, residents face a new library tax this year when the county takes over the city library system, along with possible increases in county taxes and a citywide revaluation that is almost complete.
"I don't think most people in the city can sustain a tax increase. We're already suffering now," said Brian Coleman, 41, one of a handful of residents who attended the special Council meeting. "To squeeze the working person - how much more can we take?"
Glynn Jones, city finance director, said Camden was being forced by the state "to become self-sustaining, or they cut our aid."
"So we have to raise taxes," he said.
Another resident said the city gave away land on the waterfront without fully taxing the entities that were there. The businesses on the waterfront - such as Adventure Aquarium, South Jersey Port, and the government contractor L-3 Communications - are not subject to the 23 percent increase.
Including school and county taxes, the average-assessed homeowner now pays $1,200 in property taxes. In January, the New Jersey Legislature passed legislation that brought Camden out of a seven-year period of state control, during which time tax increases were forbidden. Under the terms of the January legislation, Camden could raise taxes beginning this year - but only 3 percent.
Such a tax increase, though, would have brought only $600,000 in additional revenue, because the city is not structured to rely on taxes to pay for its services - which is one of the reasons it is now in a fiscal crisis. Camden has a low tax-collection rate, most of its land is tax-free, and about 80 percent of its budget is funded by the state.
Council's unanimous vote Wednesday effectively allows the city to ask the state Local Finance Board, which oversees its finances, to exceed the 3 percent cap by an additional 20 percent. That would bring in $4.2 million more in taxes than last year, for a total of $25 million.
The tax increase would not be finalized until the city approved its current fiscal budget, which could happen as soon as next week.
"I don't believe anyone thinks it's fair," said Councilman Curtis Jenkins. "But we have to wean our way off of state aid."
