New homeless tax adds $5 surcharge for every ocean county clerk doc

New homeless tax adds $5 surcharge for every Ocean County Clerk Doc

by
June 16, 2023
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TOMS RIVER, NJ – Ocean County residents will now be charged a homelessness tax each time they go to the Ocean County Clerk’s Office to file a document. The Ocean County Board of Commissioners has approved the $5 per document surcharge, which means every time you file a document with the county, you will now be charged and additional $5 homelessness tax.

The Board of Commissioners is expected to sign the new tax into law at the next regularly scheduled meeting on July 6th.

The commissioners are branding this tax, the Homeless Trust Fund, and is expected to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in new tax revenue for the county.

Under the Homelessness Trust Fund, Ocean County, like most of the 12 other counties in New Jersey that have created the fund, will apply a $5 surcharge on most recorded instruments with the Ocean County Clerk’s Office for deposit into a County Homelessness Trust Fund. The money will stay in Ocean County to support ongoing programs.

“There will be 20 days for public comment,” Crea said. “We want to provide time for our residents to comment on this proposed action.”

In 2022, more than 130,000 documents were filed or recorded with the Ocean County Clerk’s Office.

“Based on the number of documents recorded over the last three years, the fund could raise anywhere from $275,000 to $390, 000,” Crea said. “These funds are raised annually and will be used to support ongoing homelessness and housing instability programs along with the Code Blue program.”

If passed, the new surcharge will begin being assessed on September 1st.

In 2022, more than 130,000 documents were filed or recorded with the Ocean County Clerk’s Office.

“Based on the number of documents recorded over the last three years, the fund could raise anywhere from $275,000 to $390, 000,” Crea said. “These funds are raised annually and will be used to support ongoing homelessness and housing instability programs along with the Code Blue program.”

Deputy Director of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners Gary Quinn noted he has been working on this with his colleagues on the Board for a long time as homeless groups begin to pressure and lobby the commissioners for more services for the county’s small homeless population.

“We are seeing increases in the under employed and families are having a difficult time making ends meet and keeping a roof over their head,” said Quinn, who also serves as a member of the Ocean County Board of Social Services. “We need to do more and this is one of the tools we have available to us to create a permanent funding source that can be used to help our residents.”

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Phil Stilton is the Editor and Publisher of Shore News Network, an independent digital newsroom providing original reporting on New Jersey, national news, government, public policy, public safety, courts, and community affairs.

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