Stay NJ, ANCHOR and the Senior Freeze stack. Most seniors claim one of the three

New Jersey runs three separate property tax relief programs for homeowners, and seniors are eligible for all three at once. The confusion isn't whether you can stack them (you can), it's that each one is built differently, so most people end up only filing for the one they happened to hear about first.

ANCHOR: everyone starts here

ANCHOR (Affordable NJ Communities for Homeowners and Renters) has no age requirement. Any NJ homeowner who occupied their home as a primary residence on October 1 of the benefit year can apply, regardless of age. Homeowners with income up to $150,000 receive $1,500; those between $150,001 and $250,000 receive $1,000. It's paid as a direct check or direct deposit, not a credit against your tax bill.

Because there's no age gate, ANCHOR is the one program every NJ homeowner should be filing for every year, senior or not.

Stay NJ: the senior-only cut, now with income tiers

Stay NJ is for homeowners 65 and older. It cuts an eligible senior's property tax bill significantly, and after the FY2027 state budget, the program now works on income tiers rather than one flat rule:

• Income up to $100,000: up to $6,500
• Income $100,000–$150,000: up to $5,000
• Income $150,000–$200,000: up to $4,000
• Income over $200,000: not eligible

Stay NJ eligibility uses NJ gross income, which is not the same figure as your federal AGI, so it's worth checking your actual NJ number rather than assuming based on a federal return.

Senior Freeze (PTR): the one built around your base year

Senior Freeze, formally the Property Tax Reimbursement program, works differently from the other two. It doesn't pay a flat benefit; it reimburses the increase in your property taxes above a "base year," which is generally the first year you became eligible and enrolled. As long as your income stays under the program's limit and you continue to qualify, your effective property tax bill is frozen at that base year's level, with the state reimbursing the difference as your actual bill rises.

This is available to homeowners 65 or older, or those receiving Social Security Disability benefits, who meet residency and income requirements. The base-year mechanic is exactly why establishing eligibility early matters: the sooner your base year locks in, the more that freeze is worth as your town's tax rate climbs in later years.

How they actually stack

A 68-year-old NJ homeowner with $80,000 in income can, in the same year, receive an ANCHOR payment, a Stay NJ credit, and a Senior Freeze reimbursement. Nothing about qualifying for one disqualifies you from another. The real-world pattern is usually the opposite of stacking, though: seniors file the PAS-1 combined application (which covers Stay NJ and Senior Freeze together) and stop there, without realizing ANCHOR is a completely separate filing with its own deadline.

Filing mechanics

Seniors 65 and older, and homeowners receiving Social Security Disability or Railroad Retirement disability benefits, use the PAS-1 combined application, which covers ANCHOR, Stay NJ, and Senior Freeze in one form. Everyone else under 65 files ANCHOR separately through the ANC-1 form. The 2026 PAS-1 deadline is November 2, 2026.