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Empowering Civics
CivicParent is a fiscal literacy platform that follows the public money in NJ.
Written by Brigid D'Souza, a licensed CPA and accounting professor.
FEATURED SERIES
My latest series is looking at property tax as the local budget timelines & related property tax milestones unfold
Part 1: The framework and timeline for local budgets and property tax

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Part 2: The tax bill and what it’s pointing to

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The series will continue with:
- Part 3: The local levy as a connection between taxpayer and the local budget
- Part 4: The tax base: assessed vs market value
- Part 5: The tax rates as a lens into tax equity
- Part 6: Special topics
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NEW JERSEY: BY THE NUMBERS
While we are one Garden State, we are fragmented by county, town, and school district. This has implications with property tax, including school & city taxes.
1
State
21
Counties
565
Municipalities
650+
School Districts
CivicParent Series
Learn about local public finance in the Garden State
PROPERTY TAX & LOCAL BUDGETS
Learn about the local government budget process and property tax. My hope is for this series to be a practical roadmap for taxpayers who may want to engage the local budget and related property tax expense.
JC MUNICIPAL BUDGET
This is a multi-year series that I began in 2019 and have continued each year to unpack my local budget in Jersey City. Understanding your local municipal budget is one important step in understanding what is driving your property tax expense..
JC PUBLIC SCHOOLS BUDGET
Since 2018 I have been closely following the school budget process in Jersey City. This coincided with the enactment of the "S2" law which was the phased reduction of state aid from Jersey City.
NJ'S USER FRIENDLY BUDGET
This series unpacks the 'User Friendly Budget' to enable exploration of local municipal budgets across the Garden State.
REVALUATION
Learn the who/what/when/where/why of property revaluation through a series that uses Jersey City as a case study. In 2018, Jersey City conducted its first revaluation in 30 years.
TAX ABATEMENTS
A full series unpacks the topic of tax abatements including the intersection of city and school funding. Jersey City, the largest grantor of tax abatements in NJ, is used as a case study.