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The Murphy administration is out with new data regarding the ANCHOR initiative, announcing Jan. 29 that the most recent program broke a record – becoming the largest property tax relief program in New Jersey history.

In the most recent ANCHOR season, covering the 2020 tax year, the Treasury Department says over $2.1 billion was doled out to more than 1.8 million Garden State homeowners and renters.

That breaks down to more than 1.2 million homeowners who received over $1.8 billion in benefits and roughly 579,000 renters who received more than $278 million in benefits. Payments ranged from $450 to $1,750 and qualifying homeowners and renters over age 65 were eligible for an additional $250.

The number of benefits paid out eclipses the first ANCHOR season, which covered the 2019 tax year, by more than 200,000 New Jerseyans, including over 60,000 homeowners and more than 141,000 renters.

And, the $2.1 billion distributed surpasses the 2008 Homestead Rebate program, which previously held the record for a property tax relief program at $2.08 billion.

The Treasury Department says its Division of Taxation, which administers ANCHOR, has undertaken a series of steps to make the program more convenient, accessible and streamlined by: implementing an automatic filing system; mailing applications to 2 million residences; expediting the review process to distribute benefits within 90 days to a majority of eligible residents; and the formation of an ANCHOR Outreach Team – comprised of 300 canvassing professionals who delivered door-to-door, community outreach around the Garden State.

“I’d like to thank the hardworking staff at the Division of Taxation for devoting countless hours to processing applications and distributing benefits to nearly two million New Jerseyans,” said Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio. “A program of this magnitude is an enormous undertaking, but the Division of Taxation worked diligently to ensure eligible homeowners and renters received this crucial property tax relief at a time when many residents need it most.”

“Together with our partners in the Legislature, and through the non-stop efforts of Treasury’s Division of Taxation, we have delivered roughly $2 billion to hardworking homeowners and renters for the second consecutive year,” said Gov. Phil Murphy in a press release. “As the most ambitious property tax relief program in New Jersey history, ANCHOR is helping to make New Jersey more affordable for nearly two million households who need and deserve this relief.”

Legislative leaders applauded the milestones.

“The ANCHOR program continues to provide direct tax relief with financial assistance that helps ease the burden of property taxes,” said Senate President Nick Scutari, D-22nd District. “We are providing the highest level of property tax relief in history for homeowners and renters throughout the state.”

“We made affordability a top priority when we passed ANCHOR and it has delivered historic property tax relief,” said Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-19th District.

Officials encourage anyone who has not received their benefits or had an issue with the application to call the ANCHOR hotline (609-826-4282 or 1-888-238-1233) – or get in-person assistance at a Regional Information Center. More information is available here.