Annual Tax Billing

It has come to the Township’s attention that there is a question as to how the tax bills have been calculated and whether or not the bills have been affected by the revaluation.  Please be advised that the revaluation has NO impact upon the total tax bill or any individual quarter.  That being said, I would like to explain as to how we arrived at each quarter’s bill. 

Each year, the final tax bill is calculated after the tax rate is set, which typically occurs after the August 1^st due date for the 3^rd quarter taxes.  As a result, the Township annually sends out estimated 3^rd Quarter tax bills, which are based on the previous year’s tax rate, in accordance with State statute.  Once the County sets the tax rate, we then send out the final tax bill.  This becomes your total tax obligation for the calendar year.   

The annual tax bill is calculated by multiplying your assessment by the tax rate, divided by 100. 

Since we have already billed the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd quarters when we generate the final tax bill, we calculate the 4^th quarter when we take the total annual taxes due and subtract the amount already billed/paid.

Your final tax bill also include the preliminary taxes for the following year.  To calculate the preliminary tax bills for the following year, we take the total tax obligation from the previous year’s final tax bill and divide that amount in half.  This is your preliminary tax due, which is divided equally between the 1^st and 2^nd quarters. 

For example on an actual home in Riverside with 2018 taxes that total $7,077.50 (assessment x tax rate):

The 2018 1st and 2nd quarter tax bills were $1,721.40 each quarter.

The 2018 3rd quarter estimated tax bill was $1,739.45. 

The 2018 4th quarter tax bill was $1,895.25, which is the balance of the monies owed to pay the 2018 tax obligation of $7,077.50.

The total 2018 tax obligation of $7,077.50 is then used to arrive at the 2019 1st and 2^nd quarter bills.  The preliminary tax bills for 2019 total $3,538.75, or $1,769.38 for the 1st quarter and $1,769.37 for the 2nd quarter. 

As you can see, at no point does the ongoing tax revaluation have an impact upon the current tax bill, nor did the Township overestimate the tax bills.   

Should you have any questions regarding any of the above information, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at mjack@riversidetwp.org or 856-461-1460 x4 or our Tax Collector, Mindie Weiner, at ctc@riversidetwp.org or 856-461-1460 x1.  Thank you.  Meghan Jack.