Two homes can both be listed as "Bordentown, NJ 08505" and still sit in two separate municipalities, each with its own budget, tax rate and set of house rules. The headline numbers also point the wrong way. Bordentown City carried the higher general tax rate in 2025, 3.888 against Bordentown Township's 3.469. Yet the City's average residential tax bill that year was $8,018, compared with $8,463 in the Township.
The higher rate comes with the smaller bill. For a buyer comparing the two towns at a specific price point, neither figure is the right yardstick. The effective rate is, and it moves the comparison in a direction most portal pages never show.
The Rate That Looks Worse Sends the Smaller Bill
Here are the two towns side by side, using the latest certified figures from the New Jersey Division of Taxation:
| 2025 figure | Bordentown City | Bordentown Township |
|---|---|---|
| General tax rate | 3.888 | 3.469 |
| Effective tax rate | 2.543 | 2.022 |
| Average residential assessment | $206,218 | $243,967 |
| Average residential tax bill | $8,018 | $8,463 |
Sources are the state's 2025 General Tax Rates table and its 2025 Average Residential Statistics.
A bill is the assessed value multiplied by the general rate, which is a percentage of assessed value. Run the averages and the table checks out. $206,218 at 3.888% comes to about $8,018, and $243,967 at 3.469% comes to about $8,463. The City's bill is smaller only because its average assessment is about $37,700 lower. Its rate does it no favors.
That explains the averages. It doesn't tell a buyer what a particular house will cost, because an average assessment describes the existing housing stock, and a buyer is paying a market price for one property.
The Assessment Is Only a Fraction of the Price
Assessed values in both towns sit well below market value. The state's equalization ratios for tax year 2026 put Bordentown City at 60.17% and Bordentown Township at 57.08%. Put simply, the average City property is assessed at about 60 cents per dollar of estimated market value, and the average Township property at about 57 cents. The 2025 ratios ran higher, at 65.77% and 59.85%.
The effective tax rate translates taxes into market terms. The Division of Taxation describes it as a statistical measure that lets one district be compared with another as if both were assessed at 100% of value, and it states plainly that the rate is not to be used to compute a tax bill. As a comparison tool, it works in the same units a buyer is already thinking in. On that basis the gap between the towns widens. The City's effective rate in 2025 was 2.543%, and the Township's was 2.022%. The general-rate gap is about 0.4 points. The effective-rate gap is about half a point of market value, every year.
Neither town has to worry about that ratio being reset soon. Neither Bordentown City nor Bordentown Township appears on the state's approved 2026 revaluation and reassessment list, updated May 13, 2026.
Run One Price Through Both Towns
Apply the effective rates to $400,000 of market value and the relative burden becomes visible. This is a comparison figure in the spirit of the state's measure, not an estimate of any property's bill:
- Bordentown City: $400,000 × 2.543% ≈ $10,172 a year
- Bordentown Township: $400,000 × 2.022% ≈ $8,088 a year
- Gap: roughly $2,084 a year, or about $174 a month
Per dollar of market value, the City carries the heavier tax load, even though the City's average bill is the smaller one.
The towns' typical sale prices change the picture again. The state's 2026 Average Residential Statistics report an average sale price of $369,600 across 35 City sales and $483,525.53 across 94 Township sales. These are annual averages, not medians, and they trail the live market. Apply each town's 2025 effective rate to its own average price and the comparison figures land at about $9,399 for the City and about $9,777 for the Township. At typical prices, the two towns' tax loads come out a few hundred dollars apart, even though the average Township sale runs about $114,000 higher. That lines up with the actual average bills in the table, which were also a few hundred dollars apart.
The real bill on any home is that parcel's assessed value times the general rate, and that's the figure to pull from the tax records for any home under consideration. The effective rate is how you compare the two towns before you get that far.
2026 Moved the Two Towns at Different Speeds
The 2025 tables are the starting point. This year's budgets added to them unevenly.
- Bordentown City: Commissioners unanimously adopted a $7,854,185 budget in June, and TAPinto Bordentown reported it adds $260 in City taxes for a home at the municipal average assessment of $206,527. The City's financial consultant tied the increases to police salaries, employee health insurance, utilities and debt service. The City administrator listed revenue efforts that include selling surplus properties such as the former city hall on Farnsworth Avenue.
- Bordentown Township: The state's 2026 User-Friendly Budget shows the municipal-purpose rate rising from $0.651 to $0.667 per $100 of assessed value, a 2.46% increase. The Township's budget presentation put the cost at about $45.55 a year, or $3.80 a month, for a home at the $244,806 average assessment.
- Bordentown Regional School District, shared by both: The board approved a 2026–27 budget of slightly over $54 million, which TAPinto reported would raise district property taxes by about 2%.
On the municipal side, the City's average homeowner took on about $260 this year and the Township's about $46. The shared school levy affects both towns, but because it's spread by assessment, it doesn't land as the same dollar amount in each.
The next shared item is on the ballot. On November 3, voters across the district will decide an $86.1 million bond referendum for roofs, plumbing, electrical systems, HVAC and other building work. The district says state aid would cover 34% of project costs. If the referendum passes, it estimates a monthly tax impact of $38 for a City home assessed at $206,218, $49 for a Township home assessed at $243,967, and $35 for a Fieldsboro home assessed at $208,879. The district gives a 20-year bond term and posts details on its referendum page.
Annualized, those estimates come to about $456 for the average City home and $588 for the average Township home. A buyer under contract this fall could be budgeting for a home whose 2027 bill depends on a vote that happens before closing.
The House Rules Split Along the Same Line
The municipal boundary also decides which rules govern the outside of the house. Bordentown City's historic core is built largely of two- and three-story row houses, and most of the town falls within the National Register historic district. One example of that fabric is the Clara Barton School, a contributing resource whose brick building dates to 1839.
National Register status and local review are separate things. City code identifies the commercial district and the Thompson Street neighborhood as local historic districts and allows further districts or individual landmarks to be designated. For properties under local designation, the review ordinance covers demolition, relocation, exterior architectural changes and new construction, along with site features such as fences, trim, gutters and sheathing. A certificate of appropriateness is required before covered work begins. Interior-only changes and specified in-kind maintenance, repair, painting and cleaning are exempt. Whether a given rowhome needs that certificate for new gutters depends on the parcel's local designation, not on the ZIP code.
Bordentown Township's 2025 Housing Element describes housing that is mostly detached, with 57.4% single-family detached and 17.1% single-family attached homes as of 2023, and about 40% built before 1970. In the Township's attached-home communities, the extra layer of rules is more likely to come from a homeowners association's governing documents, which can cover leasing, pets and parking, than from a historic commission.
Where the County Market Sits Right Now
The state's town-level sale figures lag the market, and month-by-month data for each Bordentown municipality isn't publicly posted. NJ REALTORS keeps municipal reports behind a member login. The nearest current read is countywide. In August 2026, Burlington County single-family homes sold at a median of $455,000 after 31 days on market, with 3.0 months of supply and sellers receiving 101.2% of list price, according to the NJ REALTORS county report. Townhouses and condos had a median of $312,500, 33 days on market and 2.7 months of supply.
With homes selling at or above list, buyers have little room to adjust on price, so the yearly tax bill becomes one of the larger costs that still differs from house to house. In 08505, it differs most on which side of the municipal line the house sits.
Quick Questions
How do I tell which municipality a "Bordentown" listing is in? The property's tax record names the taxing district, Bordentown City or Bordentown Township, and the assessment and general rate on that record determine the bill.
Are 2026 tax rates out yet? As of early October 2026, the Division of Taxation's rate archive links the 2025 and 2024 tables, so 2025 is the latest certified set. The 2026 changes so far come from the budgets described above.
Will a reassessment reset these numbers soon? Neither municipality is on the state's 2026 revaluation list, so the 2026 equalization ratios of 60.17% and 57.08% describe how assessments currently relate to market value.
Every property tells a story, and in Bordentown part of that story is printed on the tax bill. If you're comparing a City rowhome with a Township colonial, Hawleywood Homes Real Estate Team can pull the assessment on each one, work out the actual bill from the general rate, and show you what the November referendum would add, so the numbers are clear before you write an offer. Contact Us.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
