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Verona finished a townwide revaluation for tax year 2026. The average residential assessment went from $435,752 to $704,400, and the municipal tax rate fell by about a third. If you're comparing Verona with nearby towns using a tax figure from a listing sheet, that figure may be based on an assessment that no longer exists.
The township describes the revaluation as levy-neutral. It moves the existing tax burden around to match current market values. It does not raise the total. That means one house's bill can go up, go down or stay flat. A Verona tax bill is your share of a fixed pie. You can't work out the new number by multiplying the old rate by the new assessment, or the old bill by any percentage.
The Essex County Board of Taxation ordered the revaluation, and Professional Property Appraisers did the appraisal work. The new values use an October 1, 2025 valuation date, and they show up on bills starting in tax year 2026. Notices went out in January. MyVeronaNJ reported an informal review deadline of January 30 and a formal county appeal deadline of May 1, 2026. Both dates have passed.
The township's 2026 budget shows how much the assessments moved compared with what people actually pay. The figures below come from the township's later user-friendly budget document. An earlier version listed a municipal rate of 0.490 and a municipal portion of $3,448.90, so the 2026 figures could still shift until a certified rate is published.
| Figure for the average Verona home | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Residential assessment | $435,752 | $704,400 |
| Municipal purpose tax rate | 0.761 | 0.482 |
| Municipal purpose portion of the bill | $3,316.07 | $3,393.47 |
The average assessment rose about 62%, but the municipal portion of the average bill rose about 2.3%. The rate fell to offset the higher base, which is how a levy-neutral revaluation is supposed to work. On average, the shares moved less than the headline assessment did.
Averages hide the spread, though. According to MyVeronaNJ, the assessor and the appraisal firm would not say how many households saw their bills rise or fall, or by how much. For reference, the state lists Verona's 2025 general tax rate as $3.165 per $100 of assessed value and the 2025 average residential tax bill as $13,792. As of the state's October 1, 2026 update, no certified 2026 general rate has been published. 2025 is still the newest year in the state's table.
A 2025 bill attached to a Verona house is a bill on an old assessment at an old rate. The 2026 assessment and bill for that specific property tell you how its share changed.
In 2025, schools accounted for 57.54% of Verona's total levy, the municipality for 24.06% and the county for 15.27%. Library and open-space levies made up the rest. The school portion matters most, and it is also the hardest to grow.
New Jersey put a 4% cap on school budget increases in 2007. In 2010 the state lowered it to 2% and made it permanent. Verona's health insurance costs for the 2026–27 school budget rose 20%, and MyVeronaNJ reported that the next year's increase could reach 34%. The Board of Education's first vote on the budget failed on April 28, 2026. On May 5 the board approved a revised budget with staffing and program cuts.
The cap limits how much the total school levy can grow. A new taxable building doesn't add money to the school budget. It adds owners who split the existing levy. At the September 14 council meeting, Mayor Christopher Tamburro told the room, as TAPinto Verona/Cedar Grove reported, that a conventionally taxed building would give the schools "exactly $0 in additional revenue." In his words, "the tax levy is spread out among more people."
Superintendent Diane DiGiuseppe described the same mechanism from the school side in a statement published by MyVeronaNJ. She said PILOTs "can deprive the school district of new ratable growth that otherwise would help distribute the school tax levy across a broader tax base." The mayor and the superintendent agree on how the levy works. They disagree about what that means for the buildings now in the pipeline.
A payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, replaces the regular taxes on a building's improvements with an annual service charge. The owner still pays ordinary taxes on the land. According to Verona's PILOT FAQ, those payments go 95% to the township and 5% to Essex County. No fixed share goes to the schools. So a PILOT building doesn't join the base that splits the school levy, at least not for the improvements.
Here is what is now moving through Verona's council and Planning Board:
As MyVeronaNJ reported from the same meeting, Councilwoman Christine McGrath put it in proportion. With the new agreements, Verona will have 10 PILOT parcels out of 5,290 properties, and the existing PILOTs account for about 2% of $4.4 billion in assessed value. In the same MyVeronaNJ account, Deputy Mayor Jack McEvoy said the 383 Bloomfield payment will be "certainly under $100,000," set against a $3.2 million school budget shortfall.
Council members also tied the pace of development to state affordable housing obligations. According to TAPinto's report on the September 14 meeting, Councilman Alex Roman noted that an early calculation once projected 716 new units for Verona, and that the township spent roughly $20 million buying land to avoid that outcome. The amended Fourth Round plan, adopted in March 2026, sets a realistic development potential of 67 units.
Timing affects a buyer the most. The township FAQ says 885 and 383 Bloomfield won't make payments until they are completed, and won't contribute to the 2027 school budget. As of the latest Planning Board postings, 420 Bloomfield, 885 Bloomfield and the Grove Avenue townhouses were still at the application stage, with filings posted September 23 through October 6, 2026. No construction timeline has been confirmed.
Also on September 14, the council unanimously created a subcommittee made up of McEvoy and Roman to negotiate a PILOT revenue-sharing framework with the Board of Education. The goal is an agreement before the end of 2026. The township's FAQ notes that any sharing would be set by council resolution each year. Advocates quoted by MyVeronaNJ point next door to Cedar Grove, which they say shares about $1.2 million a year in PILOT revenue with its Board of Education. A state bill, S-1807, would require towns to share PILOT revenue, but it has not come to a vote.
These buildings also change what is for sale in Verona, and that's the other half of a buyer's comparison. In January the council approved a settlement that lets JMF Properties build 84 for-sale townhouses at 251½ Grove Avenue, 17 of them affordable. In July, MyVeronaNJ reported that Abbasi Construction had bought the nearly one-acre 21-25 Grove Avenue site for $1.85 million, with an approved plan for 10 townhomes. At the Hillcrest vote, council members described demand for downtown rentals among households looking to downsize without leaving town.
Today's single-family market has almost nothing to spare. In June 2026 Verona recorded eight closed single-family sales and had ten homes on the market at month's end. That works out to 1.2 months of inventory, and homes sold at an average 117% of asking price. When competition is that tight, buyers tend to look closely at price and skim the tax line. In Verona this year, the tax line moved more than usual.
Does a higher 2026 assessment mean a higher tax bill? Not necessarily. The revaluation redistributed a fixed levy, and rates fell as assessments rose. Each property's bill depends on how its value changed compared with the rest of town.
Do PILOT buildings pay nothing? They make an annual service charge on the improvements and pay regular taxes on the land. The difference is where the money goes: 95% to the township and 5% to the county.
Is the 2026 Verona tax rate published? Not as a certified general rate as of the state's October 1, 2026 update. The township's budget documents show the 2026 municipal purpose rate.
If you're comparing Verona homes and want to read the 2026 assessment, the tax history and the Bloomfield Avenue pipeline before you write an offer, The Home Collective can go through those numbers with you house by house. Work With Us.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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