Property taxes up a whopping 66% in this state since 2001

New Jersey's property taxes, the highest in the nation, climbed 2.4 percent on average to a high of $7,759 in 2011, according to data posted on a state website. The gain follows a 4.1 percent jump in real estate taxes, the prime funding source for schools and local governments, in 2010. After property-tax rebates and credits, the average bill was $7,519 in 2011, up 20 percent from 2009, the data show. Governor Chris Christie, a Republican who took office in January 2010, scaled back property-tax rebates in his first budget. He also enacted a 2 percent cap on the levies that took effect at the beginning of 2011. Christie's measure reduced the 4 percent limit enacted by his predecessor, Democrat Jon Corzine. It also cut the number of exemptions to four from 14. Under the Corzine system, towns sought cap waivers from the state's Local Finance Board. Christie's measure required a voter referendum. In April, 14 of 566 communities asked voters to exceed the cap, and just two increases were approved. Lisa Ryan, a spokeswoman for the state Community Affairs department, which tracks the property-tax data, declined to immediately comment on the figures. Property taxes in New Jersey have increased 66 percent since 2001, when they averaged $4,661, the data show. The 2.4 percent increase last year was the smallest in at least a decade. Property taxes increased about 7 percent annually in 2004, 2005 and 2006 before the rate began to slow. Christie, 49, is proposing a 10 percent income-tax cut, while Democratic lawmakers say they want to relieve pressure from property taxes. --Bloomberg News