Tax Collector

 

REGARDING THE RECENTLY MAILED 3RD QUARTER ESTIMATED TAX BILLS:

2025 Tax Impact on the *Average assessed home in Hillsdale

	2025 Estimate	Increase from 2024	Percent of Taxes
County	1468	65	9.55
County Open Space	71	3	0.44
District School Tax	7193	266	39.1
Regional School Tax	3770	184	27
Library Tax	229	25	3.7
Municipal Tax	3056	138	20.26

 

The governing body has implemented a tax increase of $138 on the average assessed Hillsdale home. This adjustment was necessary due to pre-existing contractual obligations, which required the borough to allocate an additional $200,000 for solid waste disposal, $280,000 for police salaries and wages, and $186,000 for state-mandated health care costs—totaling $666,000 increase in an non-discretionary expenses for the 2025 budget.  All of these expenses, along with essential town services—including police, DPW, parks, and borough hall operations—are funded by just 19% of the total property taxes paid by residents.

However, through strategic revenue generation—such as River Vale joining our paid ambulance service ($75,000), merging courts with Westwood ($60,000), and joining the county fiber ring for municipal internet service (savings still being calculated)—combined with responsible departmental budget reductions, we successfully lowered the $666,000 obligation to $483,000. It is this remaining $483,000 in mandatory spending that necessitated the $138 tax increase.

This approach reflects our commitment to balancing financial responsibilities while minimizing the burden on taxpayers.

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