This is some bull.

Average is average, - it is the total sum, divided by the number of people who are paying it. It is not a range of numbers.

If the total increase is 10.3 million dollars, than "average from 8 to 15" means that they are not sure how many people pay real estate taxes, - like anywhere from 0.7 to 1.3 million.

What's wrong with them, - do they not know how many people are paying taxes, or did they forget all the arithmetic lessons?



Next, if 3.8% hike translates into 8-15 dollars increase, it means that the "average" property owner pays 209-392 in annual property taxes.

And, if the tax rate is 2.98%, it means that the average estimated value of the real estate property in Jersey City is between 7,000 and 13,000.

Really?

Hudson freeholders OK 2011 budget; tax levy nearly flat in Jersey City, Hoboken, Bayonne but rises in Weehawken, Secaucus

Published: Friday, June 24, 2011, 3:00 AM
By Kate Kowsh/The Jersey Journal

By a vote of 7-1, county freeholders last night adopted a $472.4 million budget that covers from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2011.

Union City Freeholder Tilo Rivas voted against the budget, but didn?t offer an explanation of his vote publicly; and Jersey City Freeholder Eliu Rivera was absent due to illness.
The spending plan includes a $279.6 million tax levy, a 3.8 percent hike over the $269.3 million tax levy for the budget year that ended Dec. 31, 2010.

Guttenberg?s tax levy decreased 9.63 percent, but the levy rose everywhere else. Weehawken and Secaucus saw some of the steeper hikes, 15.98 percent and 16.68 percent respectively.

The tax levy remained virtually flat in Bayonne, Jersey City and Hoboken.

Tax levies are based on a formula that considers the assessed property values in the various towns.

Prior to casting his vote, Freeholder Chair Bill O?Dea mentioned that the freeholder board spent approximately 12 hours in budget hearings. ?This was the year that we had the most extensive budget department-by-department hearings,? he said.

O?Dea noted that the adopted budget would result in the average property owner in Jersey City paying an additional $8 to $15 in taxes for the year.