Hightstown tax bills delayed because of late changes to school aid

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Hightstown Borough residents should check their mailboxes for their 2017-18 property tax bills, which were mailed at the end of last week.
The mailing was delayed because of the late adoption of the state budget and because of changes in state aid to the East Windsor Regional School District.
Because the property tax bills were late in being sent out, Hightstown Borough officials are extending the grace period to Aug. 25. The bills were due Aug. 1.
The total tax rate for Hightstown Borough for 2017 is $4.21 per $100 of assessed value. This means the owner of a house assessed at the borough average of $212,645 will pay $8,952 in property taxes.
Of that amount, the Hightstown Borough municipal property tax is $2,594, based on a municipal property tax rate of $1.22 per $100 of assessed value.
The East Windsor Regional School District property tax is $4,656, based on a tax rate of $2.19.
The combined Mercer County tax rate – for the county government, the library system and the open space tax – is 80 cents per $100 of assessed value, which translates into $1,701.
Although property owners write out their checks to Hightstown Borough, the borough serves as the tax collector. It distributes the money that is due to each governmental entity – the school district, the county government and then the municipality.