Every couple decades I have seen the outrage over our Property Tax and underdevelopment in West Milford. Politicians should be conscious of this and work to more effectively spend our tax money, and many try, but most fail. Raising money and parting with money is quite a burden for many of us so here is one major misconception you might think can lower property tax. Your 2026 school tax is roughly $83,000,000 for enrollment of roughly 3000. $27,000 per year per student, whether kindergarten or 12th grade. Do you think it wise to increase that amount to lower your tax? Perhaps build more homes to increase the tax base at the cost of a much higher tax bill? That’s a perfect example of the axiom of cutting your nose off to spite your face! We live in West Milford, and if you’re somewhat pleased with open space, cleaner air, water bodies, wild life...you know, all the things many people find pleasurable in life, you’re home. And also, they’re not making anymore of those things! If this is not for you, move to Lodi or Union City where development is close to 100% and live your dream. (just a warning, they also have proportionally higher property taxes and it’s not as nice as West Milford) I’d love to pay lower taxes and wish the authorities had the knowledge to find an affordable way to achieve this, but development has never been the solution. Ratables always have a cost for service attached and we are the reason.
Bernie Stapleton
West Milford
