The property tax rate will plummet when the city's official new value is established.

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It's high, but nowhere near that. They fail to understand the ridiculously convoluted way we determine our taxes. 6% would mean the many houses in town paying $6k are worth $100k. Even in this market that's not true. Fail.

this article was published in 2010

Welcome to New Jersey :)

Let's not forget about the under the table value added tax. :)

"The study found Jersey City has the highest property tax rate of all cities, at 6 percent"

Weren't all those new buildings on the waterfront supposed to ease the tax burden in the city by bringing in 'badly needed ratables'? Oh wait, nevermind - the city council pushed its constituents aside and gave all those developers tax breaks...

I'd encourage every JC resident to go to the next tax abatement committee meeting to send a clear message to your representative: we should no longer buy into their lies when they say that tax-abated ratables will reduce the tax burden on JC taxpayers.

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right... You wonder why no good small businesses want to come here. This explain why Newark Ave, Ocean, MLK, and Westside looks so sh*tty! Storefronts will stay boarded up at this rate with this economy.

$40k to open a retail business? That is insane...

New Jersey has never been a bargain for businesses, but a new study ranks two of the state?s cities ? Jersey City and Newark ? among the 10 most expensive places in the nation to run a company.

The pair joins other such pricey towns as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco, according to the 16th annual Cost of Doing Business Survey by Claremont McKenna College in California.

In nearly all of the top 10 cities, a mid-size retailer must pay more than $10,000 a year just for business license fees, the report said.

The study looked at 413 cities across the nation and examined their licensing fees and property, utilities and sales taxes.

Being expensive isn?t a good distinction, especially during a time when struggling businesses might be thinking about relocating, said Brad Jensen, a researcher at the Rose Institute, which conducted the study.

"States that have low taxes usually have a competitive advantage over other states," Jensen said. "Obviously, there are a lot of factors to consider when moving your business to another state, but in this economy, it could be the thing that tips you over."

Neither Jersey City nor Newark is new to the list, and both have placed in the top 10 for several years running, Jensen said. To be fair, they are also the only New Jersey towns included in the study, which focuses more closely on California.

The study found Jersey City has the highest property tax rate of all cities, at 6 percent, and a retail licensing fee of $40,000. Newark has a property tax of just a little over 1 percent, and a licensing fee of $2,300 ? but it also charges a 1 percent payroll tax.

That?s compared to one of the best-performing cities, Austin, Texas, which boasts a low property tax rate and doesn?t levy any business taxes or fees. In fact, Texas is home to five of the 10 least-expensive cities in the nation, the report showed.
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