SENATE COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

SENATE, No. 1372

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED: MAY 8, 1997

 

      The Senate Community Affairs Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 1372.

      This bill, designated the "Senior Citizen Property Tax Relief Act," would exempt senior citizens who are 65 years of age or more from further property tax increases on their residences.

      Senior citizens would be eligible for this exemption so long as they have resided in the dwelling unit on which they are being taxed and making application for a period of not less than five years.

      A surviving spouse of a senior citizen who received the tax exemption in his lifetime would continue to be eligible for the exemption notwithstanding that the surviving spouse is under the age of 65, so long as the surviving spouse remains unmarried, continues to reside in the same dwelling house for which the exemption was originally granted and was not more than 20 years younger than the decedent.

      Senior citizens and surviving spouses would continue to receive the exemption on an annual basis without reapplication; however, the onus would be on them to report any change in their status which would make them ineligible to continue to receive the exemption. Such changes in status would include a change of residence or a transfer of the property to someone ineligible to continue receiving the exemption or, in the case of a surviving spouse, remarriage.