Property Tax in Monmouth Beach, New Jersey
Monmouth Beach is a small borough on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County, just 2.07 square miles total, split between roughly 1.04 square miles of land and 1.03 square miles of water, meaning water covers nearly 50 percent of the borough's official footprint. The Atlantic Ocean sits to the east and the Shrewsbury River runs along the northwest side, and the town's population has declined gradually across the last three censuses, from 3,595 residents in 2000 to 3,279 in 2010 (down 8.8 percent) and 3,174 in 2020 (down another 3.2 percent). A shrinking, land-scarce tax base like this one is worth understanding on its own terms, especially since Monmouth Beach is governed by an unusual form of local government that directly shapes how its budget and tax rate get set each year. This page does not state a current Monmouth Beach property tax rate, assessed value, or tax bill for any address, because no such figure was independently confirmed during this research pass. It does draw on the one confirmed cost data point available, the 2023 Zillow average home price, and on real, specific facts about the borough's government and schools that any buyer should factor into their own research.
A Small, Water-Heavy Tax Base
Monmouth Beach was first settled in 1668, one of the oldest-settled communities on this stretch of the Jersey Shore, and grew as a community following the arrival of the Long Branch and Sea Shore Railroad before incorporating as its own borough, carved from portions of Ocean Township, on March 9, 1906. Today it covers only 2.07 square miles total, and with water making up nearly 50 percent of that area, one of the highest water percentages of any Jersey Shore market, the land available to actually tax is genuinely limited. Per Zillow, the average home price in Monmouth Beach was $974,409 in 2023, up 1.4 percent from the prior year. That figure is now a couple of years old rather than current, and this page does not update it or convert it into an estimated tax bill, because no confirmed current price or tax-rate figure exists to pair it with. A shrinking population, down from 3,595 in 2000 to 3,174 in 2020, spread across a comparatively small and partly submerged land area, is exactly the kind of context that makes it worth asking directly how the local tax base has held up and where the borough's budget pressure points actually are.
None of this page states a specific mill rate, effective tax rate percentage, or dollar amount for a Monmouth Beach property tax bill, because no such figure was confirmed during this research pass. A buyer should treat the 2023 home-price figure as a historical data point only and get current assessment and tax-rate numbers directly from the Monmouth County Board of Taxation and the Monmouth Beach tax assessor's office before budgeting a purchase.
A Rare Form of Government Behind the Budget
Monmouth Beach has been governed under the Walsh Act by a three-member commission since 1929, making it one of only 30 of New Jersey's 564 municipalities that still use this commission form of government today. That is a genuinely unusual, specific structural fact, not a generic small-town description: most New Jersey shore boroughs use a mayor-council or council-manager form, while a Walsh Act commission concentrates both legislative and administrative authority in just three elected commissioners rather than spreading it across a larger council. As of the source consulted for this page, the commission included Mayor David F. Stickle along with Commissioners Lawrence M. Bolsch and Timothy Somers, though a buyer should confirm current officeholders directly with the borough rather than rely on a name that may no longer be current by the time of a purchase.
Why this matters for a property tax page specifically: a three-member commission sets and administers the municipal budget with a smaller, more concentrated governing body than most neighboring towns, which changes who a buyer or resident actually needs to talk to in order to understand how the tax rate is set, how spending decisions get made, and where to raise a concern about an assessment or a budget line. This page does not speculate about how that structure has affected any specific tax rate or budget decision, because no such analysis was confirmed during this research pass, but it is a real, verifiable reason to ask more specific questions of Monmouth Beach's government than a buyer might ask in a typical mayor-council borough.
School Funding, the Biggest Driver of Most New Jersey Tax Bills
In most New Jersey municipalities, the school-tax portion of a property tax bill is the single largest line item, larger than the municipal or county shares combined, which makes the local school district a genuinely relevant fact on a property tax page rather than a side note. Monmouth Beach operates its own school district serving pre-kindergarten through 8th grade, which enrolled 236 students as of the 2018-19 school year. High school students then attend Shore Regional High School in neighboring West Long Branch, meaning Monmouth Beach families and taxpayers fund their own small K-8 district directly while also contributing to a separate regional high school district shared with other sending towns.
That two-tier structure, a small home-district for the younger grades plus a shared regional high school, is common across small Jersey Shore boroughs but still worth confirming directly, since regional high school funding formulas and any home-district enrollment changes since 2018-19 can shift how much of a given tax bill traces back to schools. A buyer should ask the Monmouth Beach School District and the Shore Regional High School District directly for current enrollment and budget figures rather than assume the 2018-19 number still applies.
New Jersey's Own Sales Tax and Property Tax System
New Jersey has a real, functioning state sales tax and its own locally administered property tax structure, genuinely different from a no-sales-tax framing that might apply to a different coastal state and simply does not apply here. Property taxes in New Jersey are assessed and levied locally, under state law, through each municipality and county, and there is no single statewide rate applied uniformly to every shore town, whether it is a large township or a small, water-heavy borough like Monmouth Beach covering just over two square miles.
This page will not state a specific current New Jersey state sales tax percentage or a specific current Monmouth Beach, Monmouth County, or school-district property tax rate, because none was confirmed during this research pass. New Jersey is often described as having some of the highest property taxes in the country at the state level generally, which is a widely reported, general characteristic of the state's tax system, but that general reputation is not a substitute for a specific, current Monmouth Beach figure, and this page does not convert it into one.
What to Verify Before Budgeting a Purchase
What is confirmed here: Monmouth Beach covers 2.07 square miles total (about 1.04 square miles land, 1.03 square miles water, nearly 50 percent water) in Monmouth County, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Shrewsbury River; its population fell from 3,595 in 2000 to 3,279 in 2010 and 3,174 in 2020; the average home price per Zillow was $974,409 in 2023, up 1.4 percent from the prior year; the borough has been governed under the Walsh Act by a three-member commission since 1929, one of only 30 such municipalities in New Jersey; its own Monmouth Beach School District serves pre-K through 8th grade (236 students as of 2018-19), with high schoolers attending Shore Regional High School in West Long Branch; and the same historic seawall documented along neighboring Sea Bright's shoreline extends into Monmouth Beach as shared regional coastal infrastructure. New Jersey 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 Monmouth Beach property tax rate, a current assessed value, a current tax bill, or a specific dollar figure tied to the shared seawall or any other infrastructure, because none of that was independently confirmed during this research pass. Get the actual current numbers, and a clear explanation of how the three-member commission sets the annual budget and tax rate, directly from the Monmouth Beach tax assessor's office, the Monmouth County Board of Taxation, and a real estate attorney or accountant familiar with small Jersey Shore boroughs before making an offer. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or financial advice.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Data drawn from research on Monmouth Beach, New Jersey, a 2.07-square-mile borough (approximately 1.04 square miles land, 1.03 square miles water, 49.81 percent water) in Monmouth County, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Shrewsbury River. First settled in 1668; grew following the arrival of the Long Branch and Sea Shore Railroad; incorporated as a borough from portions of Ocean Township on March 9, 1906. Population was 3,595 in the 2000 census (median age 45, median household income $80,484), 3,279 in 2010 (down 8.8 percent, median age 48.7), and 3,174 in 2020 (down 3.2 percent, median age 54.3; 1,452 households, 2,006 housing units, 27.6 percent vacancy). Average home price per Zillow was $974,409 in 2023, up 1.4 percent from the prior year; this figure is disclosed as a 2023, not current, data point. Monmouth Beach has been governed under the 1911 Walsh Act by a three-member commission since 1929, one of only 30 of New Jersey's 564 municipalities using this form of government; as of the source consulted, the commission included Mayor David F. Stickle and Commissioners Lawrence M. Bolsch and Timothy Somers, current officeholders should be confirmed directly with the borough. The Monmouth Beach School District serves pre-kindergarten through 8th grade (236 students as of the 2018-19 school year); high school students attend Shore Regional High School in West Long Branch; district teacher Karen Ginty was named the 2006-2007 New Jersey State Teacher of the Year. The same historic seawall documented in neighboring Sea Bright's research (1870s, approximately five miles long, about 18 feet high overall) extends into Monmouth Beach as shared regional infrastructure; this page does not restate Sea Bright's dedicated seawall-funding policy debate as its own. Monmouth Beach was recently affected by Hurricane Sandy, which damaged multiple homes; no further itemized damage total was confirmed and none is invented here. No confirmed current Monmouth Beach, Monmouth County, or New Jersey state sales-tax rate, current assessed-value figure, or current tax bill 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, and how the three-member commission sets the annual budget and tax rate, directly with the Monmouth Beach tax assessor's office, the Monmouth County Board of Taxation, and a licensed real estate attorney and accountant before making any purchase decision. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or financial advice.