Why Paramus Property Taxes Keep Falling While Home Prices Keep Climbing
A buyer cross-shopping Bergen County towns eventually runs into a number that doesn't add up. Paramus home prices have been climbing steadily, with the median sale price in the twelve months ending this spring pushing past $1 million and more than half of those sales closing above that mark. At the same time, longtime residents keep insisting the town's property taxes are some of the lowest in the county. Both things are true, and the reason has less to do with luck than with a specific municipal mechanism most price comparisons never mention.
Paramus Mayor Christopher DiPiazza has made the comparison plainly in local coverage: an $850,000 home in Paramus carries an annual tax bill around $12,665, while owners of comparable homes in Ridgewood, Fair Lawn, and River Edge often pay double, and in some cases nearly triple. That gap isn't an accident of assessment timing. It's the output of how the borough's tax base is built, and that structure is currently being renegotiated one construction project at a time on the borough's biggest single property.
County comparisons that look purely at effective tax rates put Paramus at 1.434% in 2025, against 1.944% in Ridgewood and 2.219% in Teaneck. On the average residential bill for that year, that gap works out to real money.
| Town | Effective tax rate (2025) | Average residential bill (2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Paramus | 1.434% | $12,095 |
| Ridgewood | 1.944% | $20,375 |
| Teaneck | 2.219% | $13,718 |
A rate that low on a town where homes now regularly sell above $1 million isn't an accident of geography. It's a direct consequence of what else sits on Paramus's tax rolls: Garden State Plaza, Paramus Park, Bergen Town Center, and the Fashion Center. Commercial property makes up 42% of the borough's more than $13 billion in assessed value, according to figures the mayor shared with local reporters this year. That commercial share is doing a lot of the work that homeowners in neighboring towns have to do themselves.
The rate isn't just low, it's been dropping on purpose. Paramus runs a rolling reassessment, appraising properties on a continuous cycle rather than waiting for a single townwide revaluation. The stated goal is to keep commercial assessments current with true market value so retail and office properties absorb more of each year's increase instead of homeowners.
The results have been showing up in the numbers. Last year's rate, 1.499%, was the lowest Paramus had seen in a decade. This year's is estimated at 1.415%.
"Half of the homes in Paramus are projected to see an estimated tax decrease, even with updated assessments."
That's DiPiazza, describing this year's projected outcome to TAPinto Paramus back in March. That figure was an estimate at the time, pending certification once the governing body closed its public hearing on the 2026 municipal budget, which the borough held on July 22, 2026. Anyone budgeting off that number now should confirm the certified rate directly with the tax assessor's office rather than relying on the pre-hearing estimate.
Here's the part that trips people up. The municipal rate is only one layer of a Paramus tax bill.
"If your taxes increase, only about 35% of that increase goes to the Borough. The rest goes to the Board of Education, County, Open Space, and Library."
That's DiPiazza again, and it's worth sitting with. A falling municipal rate doesn't guarantee a falling total bill if the other three layers move in the opposite direction. They sometimes do. Paramus's own Board of Education raised its share of the tax levy by more than 4% for the school budget year that closed this past June, even as the municipal portion trended down. A homeowner who only tracks the mayor's press releases about the municipal rate can still see their total bill climb.
The commercial subsidy that's kept Paramus rates low has always rested on one basic fact: the acreage under Garden State Plaza has been entirely commercial for 69 years. That's changing.
Construction broke ground on April 29, 2026 on Modera Garden State Plaza, a joint project from Mill Creek Residential and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, designed by Rogers Partners Architects. The first phase sits on the mall's own parking lot, bounded by Route 4, Garden State Plaza Parkway, Garden State Plaza Boulevard, and the Garden State Parkway, and will bring 575 market-rate apartments under the Modera brand, nearly 50,000 square feet of new retail, a one-acre town square, and additional green space. Completion is targeted for 2028.
The new internal streets nod to the site's own history. One will be named Marquee Lane, after the drive-in theater that once operated there. Another will be Bamberger's Lane, after the department store that anchored the mall when it opened in 1957.
Here's the open question a careful buyer should hold onto: for as long as anyone comparing Paramus to its neighbors has been doing the math, the acreage under that mall has counted as commercial ratable value, the exact category absorbing a growing share of the borough's reassessment increases. Adding 575 apartments to that same footprint introduces a new kind of property to the tax rolls, one that doesn't behave like a department store or a big-box retailer when it comes time to assess it. Whether that ultimately reinforces the subsidy that's kept residential rates down, or quietly reshapes who's sharing the burden, isn't something the borough has spelled out publicly yet. It's worth tracking over the next two reassessment cycles, not just this year's.
A few practical habits for anyone weighing Paramus against a neighboring town on total cost, not just sticker price:
Does a lower tax rate automatically make Paramus the better financial choice compared with a similarly priced home elsewhere? Not automatically. A lower rate on a higher-priced home can still produce a bill comparable to, or higher than, a higher rate on a lower-priced home in another town. The rate only tells you something once it's multiplied against the actual assessed value of the specific property in front of you.
Should I still use the 1.415% figure reported earlier this year? Treat it as a starting point only. That number was the borough's estimate as of March 2026, before the council closed its public hearing on the municipal budget on July 22, 2026. Ask the seller or listing agent for the property's most recent certified tax bill rather than relying on the pre-hearing estimate.
If you're weighing Paramus against other Bergen County towns and want the actual tax history on a specific address, not just the town-level averages, that's the kind of detail worth running down before you write an offer. Keren Abraham has spent more than two decades helping buyers and sellers in Paramus and the surrounding towns get past the headline numbers to the ones that actually matter. Let's make it happen. Get your free home valuation.
As a trusted advisor, I am dedicated to serving my community, clients, and friends. My ultimate goal is to provide a 1st class, white-glove experience, ensuring a smooth and seamless move. With my extensive experience as a businesswoman, I am committed to guiding you towards making the right investment decisions.