Follow the public money.

Civic Parent is a fiscal literacy platform focused on public finance in New Jersey.

A Closer Look at Jersey City’s School Tax Rate

A Four-Part CivicParent Series About Jersey City's School Funding Crisis

Part 1: The Public Data

Part 2: Statewide Comparisons & the Role of the Tax Base

Part 3: Let's Talk About the School Tax Levy

Tax Base, Tax Levies, & Tax Rates – Demystified

Latest Posts:

A Closer Look at Jersey City’s School Tax Rate, Part 3: A Case for Increasing the School Tax Levy
Infographic: Jersey City Tax Base, Tax Levies, and Tax Rates-Demystified
A Closer Look at Jersey City’s School Tax Rate. Part 2: Statewide Comparisons & the Role of the Tax Base
A Closer Look at Jersey City’s School Tax Rate, Part 1: the Public Data
PS #5 PTA Fall 2019 Email Campaign: No more “efficiency cuts” – What’s the long-term plan to fund our schools?
Jersey City Public Schools Funding Crisis – A CivicParent Timeline
PS #5 Email Campaign #6: JCPS is Not Fully Funded…City Must Help #FundOurSchools
The Clock is Ticking…What’s the Plan to #FundOurSchools?
Sharing from NJTV News: Questions over Jersey City teacher layoffs remain (July 4, 2019)
PS #5 Advocacy Campaign -Jersey City’s school funding crisis is NOT resolved. City Council — #FundOurSchools!!

Featured Data Visualization:

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Learn at your own pace. Articles are written as knowledge building blocks and include key concepts, infographics, and links to additional resources.

NJ Public Schools

Learn the basics about school funding in NJ. Access public school data, analysis, and insight using customizable Tableau views. Dig into details about Jersey City's Public Schools funding crisis.

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Property Taxes

Property tax basics, property revaluation, tax abatements, and more. Dig into property tax for your county and town. Learn ways to advocate for tax fairness.

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Tax Abatements

Learn the basics about tax abatements: what they are, how they are granted, and the impact on the tax base, the public schools, and the funding paradigm for the local community.

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Learn about property revaluation, including: the who/what/when/where/why of revaluation, how to compute if you are under or over taxed, and how to determine if your town or city is due for a revaluation.

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Give #OpenData a Try

Tax data is rich "open data" available to the public.

We can learn much about community through the lens of taxes.

Use the Tableau visualization below to find your hometown's tax base value. Compare your town with others throughout your county and the state, to see how your town's taxable wealth measures up. The tax base values are published each year by the State Division of NJ. The tax base is a foundational concept to the topic of property taxes.

Civic Parent Library - Take a Tour

Read about school funding, tax abatements, property revaluation, and more.

Property Taxes

City Council Can Allocate Surplus Funds to the Public Schools.
Property Tax Rate Math: A Quick Breakdown
How does Jersey City Spend Its Money? A Data Visualization of Budgets from 2015-2018
Jersey City’s 2019/20 Proposed Budget: Visualized Revenues
Jersey City PILOTs Rob Funding from the School System
Property Revaluation 501: Mapping & Color Coding Jersey City Home Sales by Assessment-Sales Ratio
Why Taxes Are Rising in Jersey City
A Closer Look at Jersey City’s School Tax Rate, Part 1: the Public Data
JCPS Funding: Why Possible State Aid Cuts = “Major Hardship”
Jersey City’s 2019/20 Proposed Budget: Visualized APPROPRIATIONS (Expenses)

Civic Maps

Property Revaluation Update: 202 out of 206 Homes on Neptune Ave in Greenville #JerseyCity were Over-Taxed.
Updated: Jersey City Abatements from 2016 User Friendly Budget. Mapped by Project Type & Ward.
Country Village Revaluation Update: $3+ Million Estimated Tax Expense Reduction (and counting…)
Quick Analysis: Tax Expense Change on the West Side, south of Lincoln Park
Jersey City 2017 Sales for Class “2” (1-4 Family) Properties, Mapped
Mapping Jersey City’s Abatements by Project Type and Ward
Jersey City: Who in City Council & the NJ State Legislature Represents Your School?
Property Revaluation 501: Mapping & Color Coding Jersey City Home Sales by Assessment-Sales Ratio
Mapping Abatements in Jersey City
JerseyCity Revaluation Update: Society Hill Highlighted

Public Schools

#PayrollTax Ordinance: Public Testimonials About Our Public Schools
News Flash: JCPS is now on Twitter! (@jcps_district)
Updated: Jersey City Abatements from 2016 User Friendly Budget. Mapped by Project Type & Ward.
Jersey Journal Op-Ed Highlights PILOT vs. Public Schools Tension in Jersey City
Tax Abatements 601: Brighter Sunshine Mandated for NJ Abatements
JC BOE Used Incorrect Tax Base Value in Its 2019/20 Budget: Explaining the Tax Math
PS #5 Email Campaign #6: JCPS is Not Fully Funded…City Must Help #FundOurSchools
NJ School Funding Basics: The Tax Base
JCPS Funding: How JCPS Spends Its Money…A High Level Primer
Tax Abatements 401: The Transparency Issue

Jersey City Public Schools Funding Crisis

“Jersey City Public Schools are *Structurally* Underfunded”…What does this mean?
Tax Abatements 601: Brighter Sunshine Mandated for NJ Abatements
#PayrollTax Ordinance: Public Testimonials About Our Public Schools
NJ School Funding Basics: The Tax Levy
Jersey City, We Have A Problem.
NJ Special Education Statistics | #DataViz #OpenData
Mapping Abatements in Jersey City
What Does 1.88 Students Look Like?
Jersey City’s 2019/20 Proposed Budget: Visualized APPROPRIATIONS (Expenses)
Jersey City’s Taxpayer Funded Schools: Enrollment Overview with Focus on Income Diversity

Tax Abatements

Fulop Era Abatements Approved from 2013 to 2016
Tax Abatements 401: The Transparency Issue
Jersey City PILOTs Rob Funding from the School System
Mapping Abatements in Jersey City
Tax Abatements 301: Two Sides of the Same PILOT
Mapping Jersey City’s Abatements by Project Type and Ward
Abatements 501: A Critique of Mayor Fulop’s “Buy Up” Abatement Policy
Tax Abatements 201: Abatement Impact on Conventional Taxpayers
Op-Ed Follow-Up: Get the Facts & Figures About Abatements & Public School Funding in Jersey City
What Does 1.88 Students Look Like?

Property Revaluation in NJ (using case studies & examples from Jersey City)

Property Revaluation Update: 202 out of 206 Homes on Neptune Ave in Greenville #JerseyCity were Over-Taxed.
Jersey City Together Helped Homeowners Save $40,000+ via Tax Appeal Workshops
Property Tax Revaluation: Will my property tax expense go up or down? (YouTube Video)
Property Revaluation 201: Quantifying Tax Inequity (A Simple Example)
Why Property Revaluation is a Social Justice Imperative in Jersey City
JerseyCity Revaluation Update: Society Hill Highlighted
Property Tax & Revaluation Workshop: WHAT is Revaluation? (YouTube Video)
Jersey City Revaluation: Intro from ASI Inc, the firm doing the Revaluation
Making Sense of Your New Tax Post Card
Country Village Revaluation Update: $3+ Million Estimated Tax Expense Reduction (and counting…)

Follow the public money.

A Closer Look at Jersey City’s School Tax Rate

A Four-Part CivicParent Series About Jersey City's School Funding Crisis

Part 1: The Public Data

Part 2: Statewide Comparisons & the Role of the Tax Base

Part 3: Let's Talk About the School Tax Levy

Latest Posts:

Featured Topic: Learn About Tax Abatements

Featured Data Visualization:

Learn

NJ Public Schools

Property Taxes

Tax Abatements

Property Revaluation

Give #OpenData a Try

Civic Parent Library - Take a Tour

Property Taxes

Civic Maps

Public Schools

Jersey City Public Schools Funding Crisis

Tax Abatements

Property Revaluation in NJ (using case studies & examples from Jersey City)

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