Dear Fellow Resident,

Welcome to the new Chester Borough webpage.  This page will continue to evolve and additional information will be continually added in order to provide you with the most up to date information about your Borough.  We hope you like our new look.

We are pleased to announce that our case with the New Jersey Division of Taxation has been settled.  As you recall, an error in the assessed values of the Borough occurred in 2014, resulting in a tax increase for all of our residents in 2015.  Through the dogged persistence of the Council and terrific legal guidance, we were able to agree to a settlement.  The inaccurate assessment resulted in a tax increase for the year 2015 and a projected increase for 2016.  Due to the settlement, the effect of the error will no longer impact your 2016 tax bill, which you will receive in August.  There is no retroactive refund or credit as part of the settlement.

Many of you probably want to know the most important aspect of the settlement, what does it mean to me financially?  At this point, we cannot give you monetary figures.  The error caused the Borough to be responsible for an increased percentage of the West Morris Regional High School budget and our share of our volunteer fire company and emergency first aid squad.  Until the Borough receives the budgets of those groups, which will be late in February, we won’t be able to give you an idea of what average taxpayers would have paid prior to the settlement as compared to the tax after the settlement.  Library taxes, which are calculated using 1/3 of a mil of assessed value will also decrease.  As soon as we have the data, we will post it on this page.

Please reach out to us when you have concerns (or compliments!) regarding our Borough.  We are privileged to serve you and look forward to a productive 2016!

Respectfully,

Janet Hoven, Mayor

Council Members:

Jennifer Cooper-Napolitano

Karen Ferrone

Elizabeth Gugliemini

Kyle Holman

Timothy Iversen

Gary Marshuetz