Three Republican legislators from Ocean County’s 9th legislative district are calling on state officials to dedicate increased tax collections to property tax relief, arguing that additional revenue should help restore benefits for senior citizens that were reduced under New Jersey’s latest budget.
State tax collections increased by $3.194 billion, or 6.4%, during the 13-month period from July 2025 through July 2026 compared with the previous 13 months, according to figures cited by State Sen. Carmen Amato (R-Berkeley) and Assemblymen Brian Rumpf (R-Little Egg Harbor) and Gregory Myhre (R-Stafford).
The lawmakers said that money should support programs that help homeowners and renters remain in New Jersey as property taxes and other household expenses continue to climb.
“Taxpayers, not Trenton, should be benefiting from increased tax collections,” the three legislators said in a joint statement. “Unquestionably, this money should be returned to taxpayers who are struggling to pay property taxes, electric bills and groceries.”
The delegation is particularly focused on a $250 supplemental ANCHOR payment that had been provided to senior homeowners and tenants but was eliminated from the fiscal year 2027 state budget.
Amato, Rumpf and Myhre introduced legislation in May that would permanently establish the additional $250 benefit.
They also criticized changes to Stay NJ, a separate property tax relief initiative for older homeowners, saying budget provisions have reduced payments for some seniors and left others ineligible.
“Cuts to the ANCHOR and NJ Stay programs have hit seniors most severely,” the lawmakers said. “At the very least, the increased tax collections should restore funding to property tax relief programs on which seniors rely to make ends meet.”
All three voted against the $61.75 billion state budget, which they characterized as excessive and insufficiently focused on affordability.
“After recently passing a record-setting $61.75 billion State budget, Trenton does not need any more tax revenue to provide services to illegal immigrants, bail out another mismanaged city as it did with Jersey City, fund political pet projects or expand the state bureaucracy,” they said.
The increase in tax collections compares two 13-month periods and does not, by itself, establish that the state has an equivalent amount of uncommitted revenue available for new spending or additional tax relief.