Third-quarter taxes are due on Tuesday

Taxes

By: Linda Seida – Staff Writer
STOCKTON – Borough residents have two additional weeks to pay their third-quarter tax bills without accruing interest.
Quarterly tax bills normally would have been due Aug. 1. The grace period normally extends only to the 10th day of the month in which those quarterly bills must be paid. However, the grace period for the third quarter was extended by 14 days to Aug. 24, borough Clerk/Administrator Michele Hovan said.
Taxpayers who pay their bill by Aug. 24 will not incur interest. Taxpayers who pay after Aug. 24 will incur interest from Aug. 1, the third-quarter tax bill due date, Ms. Hovan said.
The Borough Council approved the extended grace period during its regular monthly meeting Aug. 9.
The extension comes to taxpayers as the result of the state’s delay in reviewing municipalities’ budgets and certifying their tax rates. This year, the state certified some tax rates later than expected, including Stockton’s.
The late certifications followed by grace period extensions are not uncommon.
"I can’t think of anywhere I’ve worked where they didn’t have to do that," Ms. Hovan said.
Taxpayers in Lambertville and West Amwell Township will receive grace periods as well.
In West Amwell, the grace period was extended to Aug. 25.
In Lambertville, as in other municipalities, quarterly tax payments are due on Feb. 1, May 1, Aug. 1 and Nov. 1.
Although city taxpayers also will receive an extension, no date has been set yet, Acting Clerk Cynthia Ege said.
The delay stems from the ongoing communications between Lambertville and the NJ Department of Community Affairs over the city’s budget. DCA requested more information about certain budget details, preventing the City Council from voting on the budget July 12, as originally planned.
Among the budget-related information requested by the state are details concerning a proposed giveback of funds from the Lambertville Public Library’s surplus. In 2009, the library returned $113,190 to the city from its surplus.