NorthJersey.com: There’s a coming coronavirus tax crisis. How will it hit NJ’s budget and your tax bills?

by Stacey Barchenger and Ashley Balcerzak

The consequences of the rapidly-spreading novel coronavirus —  from business closures to widespread work-from-home mandates — have jeopardized New Jersey’s $40.9 billion spending plan for the upcoming year. Officials now expect deep drops in state revenues used to fund everything from schools to programs that lessen, even a little bit, your property tax bill.

To break the spread of the virus, the state is in a near lockdown, with everything from schools to casinos to malls shut down for an undetermined amount of time. That has state leaders tasked with mapping the spending plan for the year that begins July 1 uncertain about what to do next — and how much this unprecedented economic slowdown will hurt the state.

“You can’t do what we’ve done and not have a dramatic, and I would use the word dramatic, impact not just on people’s lives — we’re seeing that for sure — but also on the health of the state’s budget and on the state’s revenues,” Gov. Phil Murphy said last week.

The impact had already begun, with the state treasurer on Monday announcing a freeze of more than $920 million in planned spending, including about $142 million for the state’s Homestead Benefit program, which is meant to help residents pay their property taxes. That freeze is for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Read the full article here.