Eliminates property tax exempt status of certain school faculty housing.

S3328

SENATE, No. 3328

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 5, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� SHIRLEY K. TURNER

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

SYNOPSIS

���� Eliminates property tax exempt status of certain
school faculty housing.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning the taxation of certain real property and
amending R.S.54:4-3.6.

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

���� 1.��� R.S.54:4-3.6 is amended
to read as follows:

���� 54:4-3.6.� The following
property shall be exempt from taxation under this chapter: all buildings
actually used for colleges, schools, academies or seminaries,
including student
dormitories, a maintenance supervisor residence, and a presidential residence,
but not housing for faculty or other employees
, provided that if any
portion of such buildings are leased to profit-making organizations or
otherwise used for purposes which are not themselves exempt from taxation, said
portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining portion only shall be
exempt; all buildings actually used for historical societies, associations or
exhibitions, when owned by the State, county or any political subdivision
thereof or when located on land owned by an educational institution which
derives its primary support from State revenue; all buildings actually and
exclusively used for public libraries, asylum or schools for adults and
children with intellectual disabilities; all buildings used exclusively by any
association or corporation formed for the purpose and actually engaged in the
work of preventing cruelty to animals; all buildings actually and exclusively
used and owned by volunteer first-aid squads, which squads are or shall be
incorporated as associations not for pecuniary profit; all buildings actually
used in the work of associations and corporations organized exclusively for the
moral and mental improvement of men, women and children, provided that if any
portion of a building used for that purpose is leased to profit-making
organizations or is otherwise used for purposes which are not themselves exempt
from taxation, that portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining
portion only shall be exempt; all buildings actually used in the work of
associations and corporations organized exclusively for religious purposes,
including religious worship, or charitable purposes, provided that if any
portion of a building used for that purpose is leased to a profit-making
organization or is otherwise used for purposes which are not themselves exempt
from taxation, that portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining
portion shall be exempt from taxation, and provided further that if any portion
of a building is used for a different exempt use by an exempt entity, that
portion shall also be exempt from taxation; all buildings, other than those
exempt from taxation pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2021, c.17 (C.54:4-3.6j),
actually used in the work of associations and corporations organized
exclusively for hospital purposes, provided that if any portion of a building
used for hospital purposes is leased to profit-making organizations or
otherwise used for purposes which are not themselves exempt from taxation, that
portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining portion only shall be
exempt; all buildings owned or held by an association or corporation created
for the purpose of holding the title to such buildings as are actually and
exclusively used in the work of two or more associations or corporations
organized exclusively for the moral and mental improvement of men, women and
children; all buildings owned by a corporation created under or otherwise
subject to the provisions of Title 15 of the Revised Statutes or Title 15A of
the New Jersey Statutes and actually and exclusively used in the work of one or
more associations or corporations organized exclusively for charitable or
religious purposes, which associations or corporations may or may not pay rent
for the use of the premises or the portions of the premises used by them; the
buildings, not exceeding two, actually occupied as a parsonage by the
officiating clergymen of any religious corporation of this State, together with
the accessory buildings located on the same premises; the land whereon any of
the buildings hereinbefore mentioned are erected, and which may be necessary
for the fair enjoyment thereof, and which is devoted to the purposes above
mentioned and to no other purpose and does not exceed five acres in extent; the
furniture and personal property in said buildings if used in and devoted to the
purposes above mentioned; all property owned and used by any nonprofit
corporation in connection with its curriculum, work, care, treatment and study
of men, women, or children with intellectual disabilities shall also be exempt
from taxation, provided that such corporation conducts and maintains research
or professional training facilities for the care and training of men, women, or
children with intellectual disabilities; provided, in case of all the
foregoing, the buildings, or the lands on which they stand, or the
associations, corporations or institutions using and occupying them as
aforesaid, are not conducted for profit, except that the exemption of the
buildings and lands used for charitable, benevolent or religious purposes shall
extend to cases where the charitable, benevolent or religious work therein
carried on is supported partly by fees and charges received from or on behalf
of beneficiaries using or occupying the buildings; provided the building is wholly
controlled by and the entire income therefrom is used for said charitable,
benevolent or religious purposes; and any tract of land purchased pursuant to
subsection (n) of section 21 of P.L.1971, c.199 (C.40A:12-21), and located
within a municipality, actually used for the cultivation and sale of fresh
fruits and vegetables and owned by a duly incorporated nonprofit organization
or association which includes among its principal purposes the cultivation and
sale of fresh fruits and vegetables, other than a political, partisan,
sectarian, denominational or religious organization or association.� The
foregoing exemption shall apply only where the association, corporation or
institution claiming the exemption owns the property in question and is
incorporated or organized under the laws of this State and authorized to carry
out the purposes on account of which the exemption is claimed or where an
educational institution, as provided herein, has leased said property to a
historical society or association or to a corporation organized for such
purposes and created under or otherwise subject to the provisions of Title 15
of the Revised Statutes or Title 15A of the New Jersey Statutes.

���� As used in this section
"hospital purposes" includes health care facilities for the elderly,
such as nursing homes; residential health care facilities; assisted living
residences; facilities with a Class C license pursuant to P.L.1979, c.496 (C.55:13B-1
et al.), the "Rooming and Boarding House Act of 1979"; similar
facilities that provide medical, nursing or personal care services to their
residents; and that portion of the central administrative or service facility
of a continuing care retirement community that is reasonably allocable as a
health care facility for the elderly.

(cf: P.L.2021, c.17, s.5)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect on January 1 next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� Under R.S.54:4-3.6, all
buildings actually used for colleges, schools, academies, and seminaries, are
exempt from property taxation.� This exemption extends to faculty housing
provided at these educational institutions.� These educational institutions that
provide faculty housing to faculty members who may have children attending
local public schools currently contribute nothing toward the education of those
children, thereby burdening other property taxpayers with the cost of educating
these children in the local public schools.� Property tax exempt faculty
housing also does not support the costs of providing municipal and county
services.

���� This bill would limit property
tax exempt housing at these educational institutions to only student
dormitories, a maintenance supervisor�s residence, and a presidential
residence, and not to housing for faculty or other employees of the educational
institution, thereby requiring educational institutions to pay property taxes
on the assessed value of their faculty housing for the support of all
governmental entities funded through the local property tax levy.