Property Tax in Harvey Cedars, New Jersey
Harvey Cedars is a tiny, 1.19-square-mile borough on Long Beach Island in Ocean County, New Jersey — just 0.56 square miles of land against 0.63 square miles of water, a majority-water footprint that sets it apart from its LBI neighbors Ship Bottom and Surf City. This page does not state a current Harvey Cedars property tax rate, current assessed-value figure, or current tax bill for any specific address, because none was independently confirmed during this research pass, and inventing one would do a prospective buyer more harm than an honest gap does. What is confirmed, and genuinely useful before a purchase, is that New Jersey runs its own real state sales tax and its own locally administered property-tax system, that Harvey Cedars carries some of the highest property values on Long Beach Island, that the borough has been governed under an unusual commission structure since 1923, and that a documented, formula-driven school-funding disparity ties Harvey Cedars' high property values directly to what the borough pays per pupil. Get the actual current rate and assessment details from the Ocean County Board of Taxation and Harvey Cedars' own tax assessor's office before budgeting a purchase.
New Jersey Has Its Own Real Tax System — Not a No-Sales-Tax Framing
Harvey Cedars is a New Jersey market, and New Jersey has a real, functioning state sales tax and its own property-tax structure, genuinely different from a no-sales-tax state framing that would not apply here. Property taxes in New Jersey are assessed and levied locally, under state law, by each municipality and county — there is no single statewide rate that applies uniformly to every town, and Harvey Cedars' own rate is set through its own municipal budget process in combination with Ocean County's levy and the local school district's share.
This page will not state a specific current New Jersey state sales-tax percentage or a specific current Harvey Cedars, Ocean County, or school-district tax rate, because none was confirmed during this research pass. Rates and assessment practices change from year to year and vary by municipality even within the same county, so a figure quoted for one Long Beach Island town should never be assumed to apply to Harvey Cedars without direct verification.
Extremely High Property Values — the Real Context Behind Any Tax Bill Here
What is confirmed is scale, not a rate: Harvey Cedars is a small, extremely high-value borough. Many bayfront and oceanfront houses in the borough are priced at $2 million or more — a general characterization of the housing stock, not a current median price — and in 2019, the borough's total property assessment exceeded $1.28 billion. That figure describes historical assessed value across the whole borough, not a current per-property tax bill, but it illustrates why Harvey Cedars' tax base looks so different from an inland New Jersey town of similar population.
The permanent population is genuinely small: 391 residents as of the 2020 census, up 54 (+16.0%) from 337 in 2010, and 359 in 2000. Summer population reaches approximately 12,000, since most housing units in the borough are seasonal and used primarily in summer by owners who live elsewhere. That combination — a tiny year-round population, a mostly seasonal housing stock, and well over a billion dollars in assessed property value as of 2019 — is the real backdrop to any property tax conversation here, not a specific rate this page does not have.
A Walsh Act Commission Government — Rare in New Jersey
Harvey Cedars has operated under the Walsh Act form of municipal government, a commission structure, since 1923 — one of only 30 New Jersey municipalities still using this form. Three commissioners are elected at-large on a non-partisan basis, serving concurrent four-year terms; per source material reviewed for this research (2024, terms expiring December 31, 2027), the commissioners were Mayor Johnathan M. Imperiale (Commissioner of Public Affairs and Public Safety), Joseph F. Gieger (Commissioner of Public Works, Parks and Public Property), and Paul George Rice (Commissioner of Revenue and Finance) — a roster that should be treated as dated rather than assumed current as of 2026.
Under the commission form, those three commissioners collectively set the municipal budget that feeds directly into the local property tax levy, rather than a mayor-and-council structure splitting those roles differently. That governance detail does not tell a buyer what the current rate is, but it is a real, structural fact about who sets Harvey Cedars' municipal budget each year, worth knowing before assuming the process works the same way it does in a standard New Jersey borough.
A Documented School-Funding Disparity Tied Directly to Property Values
Younger students in Harvey Cedars attend the Long Beach Island Consolidated School District (also serving Barnegat Light, Long Beach Township, Ship Bottom, and Surf City) — Ethel Jacobsen School in Surf City for PreK-2, and Long Beach Island Grade School in Ship Bottom for grades 3-6, with 2020-21 enrollment of 215 students and a 7.0-to-1 student-teacher ratio. Older students move on to the Southern Regional School District in Manahawkin, serving Harvey Cedars, Long Beach Township, Beach Haven, Stafford Township, Barnegat Light, Ship Bottom, Surf City, and tuition-sending Ocean Township (Waretown) — a middle school of 902 students (grades 7-8) and a high school of 1,975 students (grades 9-12).
A real, documented cost disparity exists in how that regional district is funded: due to a property-value-based funding formula, Harvey Cedars and Long Beach Township pay over $200,000 per pupil, while Stafford Township pays approximately $3,600 per student despite sending 90% of the district's total enrollment. That gap is presented here factually, without a position on whether it is fair, because it is the clearest available illustration of what Harvey Cedars' extraordinarily high property values actually mean in dollars — a formula tied to assessed value, not to enrollment, produces a per-pupil cost more than fifty times higher in Harvey Cedars than in Stafford Township. It is a direct, real-world example of how the borough's property values translate into tax burden, even though this page cannot convert it into a specific municipal tax rate.
A Small Footprint, a Small Population, a Large Assessed Base
At 1.19 square miles total — and just 0.56 square miles of land, since 0.63 square miles is water — Harvey Cedars is a genuinely small footprint carrying a borough government, a county share, and a share of two separate school districts across a year-round population of only 391 people. That is a very different starting point from a similarly named beach town with a larger permanent population, and it means the same billion-dollar-plus assessed value base is being weighed against a small number of year-round households when the municipal budget is set.
None of this substitutes for an actual current municipal, county, or school tax rate, which this page does not have and will not estimate. Get that full breakdown — municipal, county, and school components combined — directly from Ocean County's tax records and Harvey Cedars' own tax assessor's office.
What to Verify Before Budgeting a Purchase
What is confirmed here: Harvey Cedars is a 1.19-square-mile Ocean County borough with a 2020 census population of 391, a housing stock where many bay- or oceanfront homes are priced at $2 million or more, and a 2019 total property assessment exceeding $1.28 billion; it has operated under the Walsh Act commission form of government since 1923, one of only 30 New Jersey municipalities structured this way; and a documented, formula-driven school-funding disparity has Harvey Cedars and Long Beach Township paying over $200,000 per pupil in the Southern Regional School District versus roughly $3,600 per pupil for Stafford Township. New Jersey itself runs a real state sales tax and its own locally administered property-tax system — not a no-sales-tax framing borrowed from elsewhere.
What this page will not do is invent a current Harvey Cedars property tax rate, current assessed value, current tax bill, or current New Jersey sales-tax percentage, because none was independently confirmed during this research pass. Get the actual current numbers directly from the Ocean County Board of Taxation, Harvey Cedars' own tax assessor's office, and a local real estate agent or accountant familiar with Long Beach Island before making an offer. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or financial advice.
Ready to talk to a local Harvey Cedars, LBI agent?
Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Data drawn from research on Harvey Cedars, New Jersey, a 1.19-square-mile Ocean County borough on Long Beach Island (0.56 square miles land, 0.63 square miles water, a majority-water footprint), bordering Barnegat Township, Long Beach Township, and Stafford Township; 2020 census population of 391 (up 54, +16.0%, from 337 in 2010; 359 in 2000); summer population of approximately 12,000, with most housing units seasonal; many bay- or oceanfront homes priced at $2 million or more (a general characterization, not a current median price); a 2019 total borough property assessment exceeding $1.28 billion; the Walsh Act commission form of municipal government in place since 1923, one of only 30 New Jersey municipalities with this structure, with three non-partisan commissioners elected at-large to concurrent four-year terms (per 2024 source material, terms expiring December 31, 2027: Mayor Johnathan M. Imperiale, Joseph F. Gieger, and Paul George Rice, a roster treated as dated rather than current as of 2026); Long Beach Island Consolidated School District enrollment (215 students, 2020-21, 7.0-to-1 student-teacher ratio) across Ethel Jacobsen School (Surf City, PreK-2) and Long Beach Island Grade School (Ship Bottom, grades 3-6); Southern Regional School District enrollment (middle school 902 students, grades 7-8; high school 1,975 students, grades 9-12); and a documented school-funding disparity in which a property-value-based formula has Harvey Cedars and Long Beach Township paying over $200,000 per pupil versus approximately $3,600 per pupil for Stafford Township, despite Stafford Township sending 90% of district enrollment. No confirmed current Harvey Cedars or Ocean County property tax rate, current assessed-value figure, current tax bill, or current New Jersey state sales-tax rate was independently confirmed this research pass, and none is invented here; New Jersey's property-tax and sales-tax structure is treated as genuinely different from a no-sales-tax state rather than assumed to carry over. Confirm current numbers directly with the Ocean County Board of Taxation, Harvey Cedars' own tax assessor's office, and a licensed real estate agent or accountant before making any purchase decision. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or financial advice.