N.J.'s local tax bills keep spiraling upward

NEW JERSEY -- Ted Marvel pays $4,900 in annual property taxes on his 1,000-square-foot home in the heart of Collingswood. In fact, his monthly tax bill - $407 - is starting to rival what he pays in principal and interest on his mortgage. Said Marvel: "They're going to meet soon." In the new millennium, New Jersey's property taxes, the highest in the nation, are exploring new heights. "It's astronomical," said Marvel. "It's crazy." That, too, his Garden State neighbors affirm. Even as incomes have dropped (4.4 percent), and overall taxable value has fallen in a third of the towns, an Inquirer analysis showed that from 2000 to 2011, average tax bills in Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties rose 44 percent. And that's adjusted for inflation. The average bill jumped from $3,964, to $5,691.