The 50% Promise
Stay NJ is New Jersey's newest and most ambitious relief program: its goal is that homeowners 65 and older pay no more than half of their property tax bill, with the state covering the rest up to a cap. In the state with America's highest property taxes, that's a potentially enormous benefit, up to $6,500 a year.
The first checks went out in early 2026, so the program is real and paying. But between the 2023 law and today, the rules tightened significantly, and most older articles describe a program that no longer exists.
What Changed: The {year} Budget Tiers
As originally enacted, Stay NJ had a $500,000 income limit. That applied only to the first (2024) benefit year. The state budget signed in June 2026 cut the limit to $200,000 and introduced tiers based on 2025 income:
| 2025 income | Maximum Stay NJ benefit |
|---|---|
| Up to $100,000 | $6,500 |
| Over $100,000 to $150,000 | $5,000 |
| Over $150,000 to $200,000 | $4,000 |
| Over $200,000 | Not eligible |
The rest of the eligibility rules:
- Age 65+ during the benefit year, homeowners only (renters and mobile home owners are excluded; renters still get ANCHOR)
- Owned and occupied the home as your principal residence for the full 12 months of the tax year
- No asset test, only income
- Unlike the Senior Freeze, homes under P.I.L.O.T. agreements do qualify
The Top-Up Math (Why Your Check May Be Smaller Than $6,500)
Stay NJ is not simply added to your other benefits. It's calculated last, as a top-up toward the 50% target:
- Your ANCHOR benefit and Senior Freeze reimbursement are computed first.
- If together they're below 50% of your property tax bill, Stay NJ pays the difference, up to your tier's cap.
- If they already reach 50%, your Stay NJ payment is zero (you keep the other benefits).
Example 1: bill $12,000 → 50% target is $6,000. ANCHOR pays $1,750, Senior Freeze $2,200 → $3,950. Stay NJ tops up the remaining $2,050.
Example 2: bill $8,000 → target $4,000. ANCHOR $1,750 + Senior Freeze $2,600 = $4,350, already over 50%. Stay NJ pays $0, and you keep the $4,350.
Example 3: bill $16,000, income $90,000, no Senior Freeze yet (recently turned 65, no base year). Target is $8,000; ANCHOR pays $1,750; Stay NJ tops up $6,250… capped at $6,500, so you get the full $6,250. This is the profile Stay NJ helps most: newer seniors with big bills who haven't built up Senior Freeze value.
How and When It Pays
Stay NJ arrives in quarterly installments around the 15th of February, May, August, and November, and a benefit year's four quarters straddle two calendar years (2025 benefit year: Aug 2026, Nov 2026, Feb 2027, May 2027). The first-ever checks, issued February 2026 for the 2024 benefit year, averaged roughly $600 per installment, reasonable once you remember it's a quarter of a top-up, not a quarter of $6,500 for everyone.
How to Apply
There's no separate Stay NJ application. You file the combined PAS-1 (deadline November 2, 2026 for the 2025 benefit year), and the state calculates ANCHOR, Senior Freeze, and Stay NJ together, then sends a letter itemizing each. File once, get whatever the math gives you.
What to Watch Going Forward
- The tiers are budget-dependent. Stay NJ's history is one of scaling to fit each year's budget; treat the current tiers as this year's rules, not a guarantee. Check the current figures each summer before counting on a number.
- The 50% interaction rewards enrolling in Senior Freeze early anyway, its base-year benefit survives budget cycles better than Stay NJ's tiers. See how the Senior Freeze base year works.
Bottom Line
Stay NJ today: 65+, homeowner, income under $200,000, benefit capped between $4,000 and $6,500 by income tier, paid quarterly, and calculated as a top-up so that ANCHOR + Senior Freeze + Stay NJ together reach (but never exceed) half your property tax bill. One PAS-1 filing before November 2 covers it all. For the complete picture of the three programs, start with our New Jersey property tax relief guide.