Lowers age of eligibility for surviving spouse under homestead property tax reimbursement program from 65 to 62 years of age.

A4475

ASSEMBLY, No. 4475

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 24, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman� ALEX SAUICKIE

District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)

Assemblyman� ROBERT D. CLIFTON

District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen Myhre and Scharfenberger

SYNOPSIS

���� Lowers age of eligibility for surviving spouse under
homestead property tax reimbursement program from 65 to 62 years of age.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
revising certain age eligibility criteria under the
homestead property tax reimbursement program and amending P.L.1997, c.348.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.1997,
c.348 (C.54:4-8.67) is amended to read as follows:

���� 1.��� As used in P.L.1997,
c.348 (C.54:4-8.67 et seq.):

���� "Base year" means,
in the case of a person who is an eligible claimant on or before December 31,
1997, the tax year 1997; and in the case of a person who first becomes an
eligible claimant after December 31, 1997, the tax year in which the person
first becomes an eligible claimant.� In the case of an eligible claimant who
subsequently moves from the homestead for which the initial eligibility was
established, the base year shall be the first full tax year during which the
person resides in the new homestead. Provided however, a base year for an
eligible claimant after such a move shall not apply to tax years commencing
prior to January 1, 2009.� In the case of an eligible claimant who receives a
Stay NJ property tax credit in lieu of a homestead property tax reimbursement
pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2023, c.75 (C.54:4-8.75d), the base year of that
eligible claimant shall remain unchanged.

���� "Commissioner" means
the Commissioner of Community Affairs.

���� "Director" means the
Director of the Division of Taxation.

���� "Condominium" means
the form of real property ownership provided for under the "Condominium
Act," P.L.1969, c.257 (C.46:8B-1 et seq.).

���� "Cooperative" means
a housing corporation or association which entitles the holder of a share or
membership interest thereof to possess and occupy for dwelling purposes a
house, apartment or other unit of housing owned or leased by the corporation or
association, or to lease or purchase a unit of housing constructed or to be
constructed by the corporation or association.

���� "Disabled person"
means an individual receiving monetary payments pursuant to Title II of the
federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. s.401 et seq.), or receiving disability
payments pursuant to the federal Railroad Retirement Act, 45 U.S.C. s.231 et
seq., on December 31, 1998 or on December 31 in all or any part of the year for
which a homestead property tax reimbursement under this act is claimed.

���� "Dwelling house"
means any residential property assessed as real property which consists of not
more than four units, of which not more than one may be used for commercial
purposes, but shall not include a unit in a condominium, cooperative, horizontal
property regime, or mutual housing corporation.

���� "Eligible claimant"
means a person who:

���� is 65 or more years of age on
or before December 31 of any tax year for which a homestead property tax
reimbursement is sought, or who is a disabled person;

����
in the case of a surviving
spouse of an eligible claimant, is 62 or more years of age on or before
December 31 of any tax year for which a homestead property tax reimbursement is
sought;

���� is an owner of a homestead or
the lessee of a site in a mobile home park on which site the applicant owns a
manufactured or mobile home for the entire tax year for which a homestead
property tax reimbursement is sought;

���� has an annual income of less
than $17,918 in tax year 1998, less than $18,151 in tax year 1999, or less than
$37,174 in tax year 2000 if single or, if married, whose annual income combined
with that of the spouse is less than $21,970 in tax year 1998, less than
$22,256 in tax year 1999, or less than $45,582 in tax year 2000, which income
eligibility limits for single and married persons shall be subject to
adjustments in tax years 2001 through 2006 pursuant to section 9 of P.L.1997,
c.348 (C.54:4-8.68);

���� has an annual income of
$60,000 or less in tax year 2007, $70,000 or less in tax year 2008, or $80,000
or less in tax year 2009, if single or married, which income eligibility limits
shall be subject to adjustments in tax years 2010 through 2021 pursuant to
section 9 of P.L.1997, c.348 (C.54:4-8.68);

���� has an annual income of
$150,000 or less in tax year 2022, if single or married, which income
eligibility limits shall be subject to adjustments in subsequent tax years
pursuant to section 9 of P.L.1997, c.348 (C.54:4-8.68);

���� has, for at least three
calendar years, including the entire tax year for which a homestead property
tax reimbursement is sought, owned and resided in the homestead for which a
homestead property tax reimbursement is sought prior to the date that an initial
application for a homestead property tax reimbursement is filed.� A person who
has been an eligible claimant for a previous tax year shall qualify as an
eligible claimant beginning the second full tax year following a move to
another homestead in New Jersey, despite not meeting the three-year minimum
residency and ownership requirement required for initial claimants under this
paragraph, provided that the person satisfies the income eligibility limits for
the tax year.� Provided, however, eligibility beginning in a second full tax
year after such a move shall not apply to tax years commencing prior to January
1, 2010.

���� "Homestead" means:

���� a dwelling house and the land
on which that dwelling house is located which constitutes the place of the
eligible claimant's domicile and is owned and used by the eligible claimant as
the eligible claimant's principal residence;

���� a site in a mobile home park
equipped for the installation of manufactured or mobile homes, where these
sites are under common ownership and control for the purpose of leasing each
site to the owner of a manufactured or mobile home for the installation thereof
and such site is used by the eligible claimant as the eligible claimant's
principal residence;

���� a dwelling house situated on
land owned by a person other than the eligible claimant which constitutes the
place of the eligible claimant's domicile and is owned and used by the eligible
claimant as the eligible claimant's principal residence;

���� a condominium unit or a unit
in a horizontal property regime or a continuing care retirement community which
constitutes the place of the eligible claimant's domicile and is owned and used
by the eligible claimant as the eligible claimant's principal residence.

���� In addition to the generally
accepted meaning of "owned" or "ownership," a homestead
shall be deemed to be owned by a person if that person is a tenant for life or
a tenant under a lease for 99 years or more, is entitled to and actually takes
possession of the homestead under an executory contract for the sale thereof or
under an agreement with a lending institution which holds title as security for
a loan, or is a resident of a continuing care retirement community pursuant to
a contract for continuing care for the life of that person which requires the
resident to bear, separately from any other charges, the proportionate share of
property taxes attributable to the unit that the resident occupies;

���� a unit in a cooperative or
mutual housing corporation which constitutes the place of domicile of a
residential shareholder or lessee therein or of a lessee or shareholder who is
not a residential shareholder therein, which is used by the eligible claimant
as the eligible claimant's principal residence.

���� "Homestead property tax
reimbursement" means payment of the difference between the amount of
property tax or site fee constituting property tax due and paid in any year on
any homestead, exclusive of improvements not included in the assessment on the
real property for the base year, and the amount of property tax or site fee
constituting property tax due and paid in the base year, when the amount paid
in the base year is the lower amount, but such calculations shall be reduced by
any current year property tax reductions or reductions in site fees
constituting property taxes resulting from judgments entered by county boards
of taxation or the State Tax Court.

���� "Horizontal property
regime" means the form of real property ownership provided for under the
"Horizontal Property Act," P.L.1963, c.168 (C.46:8A-1 et seq.).

���� "Income" means all
New Jersey gross income required to be reported pursuant to the "New
Jersey Gross Income Tax Act," N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq., before the
application of any authorized exclusion or deduction, except also including:
interest income excluded from taxation pursuant to N.J.S.54A:6-14; pension and
annuity income excluded from taxation pursuant to N.J.S.54A:6-10; income
derived from distributions from, or roll over to, a Roth IRA excluded from
taxation pursuant to N.J.S.54A:6-28; other retirement income excluded from
taxation pursuant to N.J.S.54A:6-15; and Social Security income excluded from
taxation pursuant to N.J.S.54A:6-2, as self-reported by the homeowner.

���� "Manufactured home"
or "mobile home" means a unit of housing which:

���� Consists of one or more
transportable sections which are substantially constructed off site and, if
more than one section, are joined together on site;

���� Is built on a permanent
chassis;

���� Is designed to be used, when
connected to utilities, as a dwelling on a permanent or nonpermanent
foundation; and

���� Is manufactured in accordance
with the standards promulgated for a manufactured home by the Secretary of the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to the
"National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of
1974," Pub.L.93-383 (42 U.S.C. s.5401 et seq.) and the standards
promulgated for a manufactured or mobile home by the commissioner pursuant to
the "State Uniform Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217
(C.52:27D-119 et seq.).

���� "Mobile home park"
means a parcel of land, or two or more parcels of land, containing no fewer
than 10 sites equipped for the installation of manufactured or mobile homes,
where these sites are under common ownership and control for the purpose of
leasing each site to the owner of a manufactured or mobile home for the
installation thereof and where the owner or owners provide services, which are
provided by the municipality in which the park is located for property owners
outside the park, which services may include but shall not be limited to:

���� The construction and
maintenance of streets;

���� Lighting of streets and other
common areas;

���� Garbage removal;

���� Snow removal; and

���� Provisions for the drainage of
surface water from home sites and common areas.

���� "Mutual housing
corporation" means a corporation not-for-profit, incorporated under the
laws of this State on a mutual or cooperative basis within the scope of section
607 of the Lanham Act (National Defense Housing), Pub.L.849, (42 U.S.C. s.1521
et seq.), as amended, which acquired a National Defense Housing Project
pursuant to that act.

���� "Principal
residence" means a homestead actually and continually occupied by an
eligible claimant as his or her permanent residence, as distinguished from a
vacation home, property owned and rented or offered for rent by the claimant,
and other secondary real property holdings.

���� "Property tax" means
the general property tax due and paid as set forth in this section, and shall
include the amount of property tax credit as defined in section 1 of P.L.2018,
c.11 (C.54:4-66.6), on a homestead, but does not include special assessments
and interest and penalties for delinquent taxes.� For the sole purpose of
qualifying for a benefit under P.L.1997, c.348 (C.54:4-8.67 et seq.), property
taxes paid by June 1 of the year following the year for which the benefit is
claimed will be deemed to be timely paid.

���� "Site fee constituting
property tax" means 18 percent of the annual site fee paid or payable to
the owner of a mobile home park.

���� "Tax year" means the
calendar year in which a homestead is assessed and the property tax is levied
thereon and it means the calendar year in which income is received or accrued.

(cf:� P.L.2025, c.24, s.1)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately and shall be retroactive to January 1, 2024.

STATEMENT

���� This bill lowers the minimum
age in which a surviving spouse of an eligible claimant may receive a homestead
property tax reimbursement from 65 to 62 years of age.�

���� The homestead property tax
reimbursement program, also known as the �senior freeze program,� provides
eligible senior citizens and disabled persons with a benefit based on the
increase in their property taxes each year.� Generally, a person qualifies as
an eligible claimant under the program if, for the tax year in which a
reimbursement is sought, the claimant:� (1) is 65 or more years of age or
disabled on or before December 31 of the tax year; (2) is the owner of a
homestead for the entire tax year; (3) complies with annual income limits; and
(4) has owned a homestead for which a reimbursement is sought for at least
three calendar years.� The surviving spouse of an eligible claimant may also
continue receiving a homestead property reimbursement provided that the
surviving spouse also meets the program�s eligibility requirements, including those
concerning the age of an eligible claimant.

���� The bill amends certain
program eligibility requirements to allow the surviving spouse of an eligible
claimant to receive a reimbursement under the program provided the surviving
spouse is 62 or more years of age on or before December 31 of the tax year for
which a reimbursement is sought, rather than requiring such claimants to begin
receiving benefits once they reach 65 years of age.� The changes made by this
bill would be retroactive to January 1, 2024.