Reader Submitted
To the editor:
Want to know how to find the 2017 equalized tax rate for Hopewell Township?
That’s easy.
First, go on your web browser and type “Mercer County, New Jersey, Board of Taxation.” Next, see the heading entitled “Board of Taxation l Mercer County, NJ?” Click on that. You are now on the Mercer County, New Jersey, Board of Taxation web site. On the left-hand side of the page, you will see a listing of topics. Click on “Tax Rates.” At the top of the center column, see the topic entitled 2017 Breakdown of General Tax Rate? Click on that. You are now looking at a chart entitled “2017 Abstract of Ratables for the County of Mercer l Breakdown of General Tax Rate.” Look at the column entitled “Tax Rate Effective,” which is also known as the Equalized Tax Rate. The term “equalized” refers to a mathematical formula that the County Tax Administrator uses to make county taxes equal among 12 municipalities in the county.
You will note that Hopewell Township does not have “the lowest equalized tax rate in Mercer County,” as that phrase was repeatedly falsely claimed in previous letters to the editor by the Kuchinski/Ruger Campaign and their supporters. If the Kuchinski/Ruger Campaign and their supporters do not know what an equalized tax rate is, that would compound their troubling lack of knowledge.
Finally, I have the following brief response to the expected personal attacks by the Democrats, which were contained in two letters to the editor last week. When I was mayor in 2015, my administration delivered the lowest municipal tax rate that year of any Mercer County municipality. See for yourself by visiting the above-mentioned Mercer County Board of Taxation website, the 2015 Abstract of Ratables and the Municipal Purpose Tax column. The 2015 Planning Board did not conclude a “settlement.” Had the court determined our affordable housing number in 2015, I assure you that my administration would have engaged in real negotiations with builders, not the sweet-heart deal the builders got this year.
Harvey Lester
Titusville
