Property taxes rose 2.4 percent, on average, last year.
TRENTON — The already steep property tax bill for New Jersey residents jumped again in 2015, topping $8,300 for the first time and increasing at the fastest rate since 2011.
The average residential bill rose from $8,161 in 2014 to $8,353 in 2015 — a 2.4 percent hike, according to annual data released Friday afternoon by the state's Department of Community Affairs.
The state aggressively tightened the cap on local property tax hikes in 2011 after property taxes were rapidly rising for several years. However, the data showed the rate of increase in 2015 was higher than the previous three years.
For homeowners, the $191 average increase comes on top of what were already the highest real estate taxes in the country. Property taxes consistently rank New Jerseyan's top concern.
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The real estate website Zillow looked at median property taxes across the U.S. last year and found that seven of the 10 counties with the highest property taxes — Bergen, Essex, Passaic, Union, Morris, Hudson and Hunterdon — are in New Jersey. The remaining three were in New York.
Christie boasted in his January State of the State address that reforms he and the Legislature put in place helped cut the average tax bill increase under Corzine to 1.9 percent during his own tenure.
"We could do even better," he said.
Of the 565 municipalities in New Jersey, taxes decreased in about 11 percent. Increases were less than 1 percent in another 9 percent, according to the state, which also noted that adjusted for inflation, the statewide hike was 2.1 percent.
"A bipartisan property tax cap is now in effect, and other reforms initiated by Governor Christie have made it possible for towns to do better than the cap requires," the Department of Community Affairs said.
The department said that U.S. Census data shows property tax increases since the cap "have consistently lagged neighboring state and regional averages."
Property tax bills grew at least 7 percent annually from 2004 to 2006. And local spending increased 70 percent in the 10 years leading up to a 2011 law that caps spending increases and the amounts police and fire unions can win in arbitration at 2 percent.
It replaced a 4 percent cap with plenty of exceptions.
But the new limit isn't impermeable, either. The cap allows towns to spend more than the 2 percent cap to pay for debt service and employee pension and health benefits, and to respond to emergencies. Local officials can also exceed the cap with voter approval.
Average tax bills rose 2.4 percent in 2011, 1.6 percent in 2012, 1.3 percent in 2013, and 2.2 percent in 2014.
The state blamed some of the higher property tax averages on Atlantic City, which has a $3.7 billion falloff in commercial property value as it grapples with casino closures and tax appeals.
The declining resort town's property taxes increased 50 percent over two years.
Setting aside Atlantic City and Paterson, which lost nearly a third of its assessed property value after a revaluation, the statewide increase would have been 1.7 percent, officials say.
Some lawmakers argue that New Jersey's high property taxes can make it an inhospitable place to live, particularly in retirement. And while real estate taxes are primarily a local issue, Democratic and Republican state lawmakers have pointed fingers at each other for obstructing tax reform.
Republicans say they want civil service, sick pay and pension and health benefits reforms. Democrats accuse Republicans of blocking property tax credits and increased school aid.
But at the start of the legislative session in January, both Democratic and Republican Assembly leaders said property tax relief should be a focus. But it hasn't gotten the same attention as repairing the public pension fund or replenishing the Transportation Trust Fund.
Democrats also said at the start of the previous legislative session in 2013 that it was time to fix the taxes "once and for all."
Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.