If you compare Florence Township's tax rate with its neighbors using the number on a listing sheet, Florence looks like a bargain. In 2025 its general tax rate was 2.790 per $100 of assessed value. That was lower than Bordentown Township, Burlington Township and Mansfield. The state's effective tax rate tells the opposite story. On that measure Florence was the highest of the four.
Town, 2025 | General tax rate | Effective tax rate |
|---|---|---|
Florence Township | 2.790 | 2.381 |
Bordentown Township | 3.469 | 2.022 |
Burlington Township | 2.944 | 2.017 |
Mansfield Township | 3.222 | 2.229 |
That gap matters if you're weighing a Florence house against one a few miles away. It's also surprising for a town with as much warehouse space along Route 130 as Florence has. A local report in July 2024 counted 16 warehouses in the township. Most people would guess all that commercial property makes homeowners' bills lighter. In Florence it helps with one slice of the bill, and that slice is the smaller one.
The rate that computes your bill is a poor way to compare towns
New Jersey's Division of Taxation uses two rates. The general rate is the one applied to your assessed value to produce your bill. The effective rate is a comparison measure and isn't used to calculate anyone's taxes. The difference comes from assessments. Each town assesses property at its own fraction of market value. For 2026 the state puts Florence's average ratio of assessed value to true value at 77.40%.
So if a buyer puts Florence's 2.790 next to Bordentown Township's 3.469, the comparison is off before it starts. The two rates are applied to assessments that sit at different distances from market value. The effective rate corrects for that, which is why Florence's lead disappears.
There's a second wrinkle. The township's own 2026 budget document lists a 2025 total rate of 3.086. That's 0.296 higher than the state's general rate, and the difference is the fire district levy. When a seller, a listing and a township page each show you a different Florence rate, they may all be correct. They're just measuring different things.
Where an average Florence tax dollar goes
Florence's 2026 budget breaks down the 2025 bill for an average residential property, which came to $6,893.11.
- Local school district: $4,058.58, which is 58.91% of the total levy
- Municipal purposes: $1,241.92, or 18.01%
- County purposes: $748.28
- Fire districts: $661.17
- County open space: $91.58
- County library: $69.24
- Municipal open space: $22.34
The school line alone is more than three times the municipal line. Keep that ratio in mind when you look at what the warehouses pay and where that money goes.
What the warehouses pay, and who receives it
Florence's biggest commercial projects mostly don't pay ordinary property taxes on their buildings. They pay under long-term PILOT agreements, short for payments in lieu of taxes. The township's own explainer says a PILOT can last 10 to 30 years, covers only new building improvements and is available only in designated redevelopment areas. The owner keeps paying full taxes on the land. The township also notes that PILOT payments are guaranteed and can't be appealed the way an ordinary assessment can.
The budget lists these long-term agreements and what each owner was billed:
Project | Agreement runs | PILOT billing | Taxes if billed in full |
|---|---|---|---|
Subaru Phase I & II | 2015 to 2033 | $455,102.33 | $1,610,830.28 |
Amazon | 2016 to 2036 | $449,447.93 | $1,034,612.36 |
B&H Photo | 2017 to 2037 | $438,516.68 | $933,422.42 |
Burlington Stores | 2015 to 2044 | $434,799.88 | $950,734.88 |
IPT East | 2020 to 2040 | $326,082.71 | $875,698.79 |
IPT West | 2022 to 2047 | $304,220.09 | $839,145.12 |
Express Scripts, F B Flurry, QPSI and a group of small affordable-housing agreements are also on the list. All of the long-term exemptions together billed $3,161,833.78. Taxed at the full 2025 rate, the same properties would have owed $8,341,939.42.
The split of that money is the key to Florence's tax picture. A report from the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller explains how long-term PILOTs work. The municipality keeps 95%, the county gets 5% and school districts receive no share. If those buildings paid ordinary taxes, the money would be split among all the bodies that levy taxes, and in Florence the schools collect the largest share.
So roughly $3.16 million a year goes almost entirely to the township side. That's a large amount next to a 2026 municipal levy of $7,708,365.28. It helps explain why the township's slice of the bill grew slowly. The 2026 municipal rate went from 0.556 to 0.571, a 2.70% increase, and the average homeowner's municipal portion rose $42.97 to $1,284.89.
The school levy gets no direct help from those agreements. For 2026 it's estimated at $24,942,738.30, up from $24,453,665.00. That increase of about $489,000 is roughly twice the $233,000 increase in the municipal levy, and homeowners and other taxpayers on the regular rolls pay it.
Florence's higher effective rate also reflects school spending, the fire districts and the assessment ratio, so the PILOTs can't be blamed for all of it. What they explain is why the warehouses have a smaller effect on a homeowner's total bill than people expect.
More agreements are on the way
The township is still adding to this list, and a few of the projects are at decision points right now.
- 1200 John Galt Way. The Planning Board approved a 728,204-square-foot single-tenant industrial building, with about 15,000 square feet of office space, on a 58-acre vacant parcel. Approvals from outside agencies were still a condition. A tax-exemption agreement for LIT MRP Atlas LLC at that address is on the Township Council agenda for October 7, 2026, for second reading and a public hearing.
- 2054 Route 130. Domo Commercial Urban Renewal scaled its plan back to two retail buildings of about 6,000 square feet each, replacing an earlier proposal for a 104-room hotel. Its August 18, 2026 application says a tax exemption is needed for the project to go ahead. The pending ordinance projects about 100 construction jobs and 20 permanent jobs, and its final hearing is also set for October 7.
- 61 Cathy Lane. The redevelopment plan adopted on October 1, 2025 allows freight trucking but prohibits warehousing and caps the site at 42 tractor-trailers. On September 2, 2026, Council voted 4 to 1 to name Blue Stone Cathy Lane, LLC as redeveloper.
As of this writing, the two October 7 exemptions haven't received final approval. If they're approved, they'll be set up the same way as the existing agreements, with the payments going to the township and county side of the ledger.
A Burlington County senator's bill would change the split
State Senator Troy Singleton, a Burlington County Democrat, is a lead sponsor of S-1807, along with Senator Benjie Wimberly. The bill would require towns to share part of certain PILOT revenue with school districts or arrange special projects for them instead. For nonresidential and mixed-use projects, the share would be 5% of the PILOT or an in-kind contribution of the same value.
It hasn't become law. The Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee advanced it on February 5, 2026, and it has been in Senate Budget and Appropriations ever since. A related Assembly bill, A-5228, was withdrawn on September 10, 2026. Even if S-1807 passes in its current form, 5% of a PILOT is small next to a school levy of nearly $25 million. It would change who gets a piece of the money far more than it would change the size of anyone's bill.
How to read a Florence tax line as a buyer
For a buyer, the practical point is to compare actual tax bills and effective rates, not general rates. Ask for the most recent bill on the specific property; it tells you more than any rate comparison. The 2026 budget also shows that most of a Florence bill follows the school district's budget. That's the line to watch from year to year, more than the township budget the warehouse payments help support.
A few quick questions
Is the 2026 Florence tax rate final? The state's latest published table of general and effective rates is for 2025. The 2026 figures here come from the township's adopted budget, and the school, county and fire amounts in it are labeled estimates.
Do the warehouses pay anything on their land? Yes. The township's explainer says owners with a long-term PILOT keep paying full land taxes during and after the agreement.
When do the current agreements end? The budget's schedule lists end dates from 2033 for Subaru to 2047 for IPT West. Amazon's runs through 2036 and B&H Photo's through 2037.
If you're comparing a Florence house with one in Bordentown, Burlington or Mansfield Township and want help reading the actual tax bills next to each other, Ronald Palentchar can go through the numbers with you before you make an offer. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
