Fort Lee, NJ · Updated Oct 2026

What a Fort Lee home costs each year

Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.

Suggestions as you type come from Google; the lookup uses free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a Fort Lee house

$18,175a year · $1,515 a month

Starts at $481,982 of value before exemptions. Typical use.

Property tax$13,014
2.700% of $481,982
Electricity and gas$2,993
558 kWh a month $1,841 · 86.6667 therms $1,152
Water$752
6.65 units (CCF) a month on Veolia Water New Jersey (Hackensack): water $63 a month
Trash$0
Your own cans, $0 a month
Home insurance$1,417
Typical premium $1,417

A typical Fort Lee house costs about $18,200 a year: $13,010 property tax and charges, $750 water, $0 trash, $2,990 electricity and gas, $1,420 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 28, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Ways to pay less

Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:

Seniors 65+: Stay NJUp to $6,500
Homeowners 65 and older who owned and lived in their home all of 2025 can get up to $6,500 with income up to $100,000, $5,000 up to $150,000, or $4,000 up to $200,000.
How: File Form PAS-1 by November 2, 2026.
100% disabled veterans: property tax exemptionAnnual exemption on your main home
Honorably discharged veterans who were 100% permanently and totally disabled during active duty service may qualify for an annual property tax exemption on their main home.
How: File D.V.S.S.E. with your local assessor.
Seniors 65+ or disabled: property tax deductionSenior deduction
New Jersey's senior citizen deduction is claimed on Form PTD.
How: File Form PTD with your local assessor or tax collector.
Bulk garbage day: two itemsTwo bulk items on your bulk day
All residents are allotted a bulk garbage day on the second garbage pick-up day of the week, and two items (maximum) of bulk may be left out.
How: Put them out on your bulk day; apartment buildings may have different rules.

Money dates

Apr 1Last day for a property tax appeal petition to reach the County Board of Taxation or the State Tax Court; May 1 where a municipal revaluation or reassessment has been undertaken.

Who serves this house

Water: Veolia Water New Jersey (Hackensack); General Metered Service (standard rate, not the separate Exempt Rate column): $22.58 per month facilities charge for a 5/8 inch meter and $6.0285 per hundred cubic feet. One hundred cubic feet equals 748 gallons. Bills are rendered monthly.
Property tax: 2.70% of value; 2025 tax year, Fort Lee Boro (Bergen County)
Garbage: Interstate Waste Services (the Borough's sanitation company); The Borough's sanitation company is Interstate Waste Services (IWS), responsible for pick-up of sanitation and recycling.
Electricity: PSE&G; PSE&G's electric tariff lists Fort Lee, Borough of in the territory it serves.
Gas: PSE&G; PSE&G's gas tariff lists Fort Lee, Borough of in the territory it serves.

Pay or manage your bills

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How these numbers are made

Property tax: Fort Lee's 2025 general tax rate of 2.700 per $100 of assessed value (the state's table; a 2026 rate is not yet published), applied to the state's 2026 average residential assessment of $481,982 (no median is published; the figure includes all residential line items, so it may include condominiums).
Water: Veolia Water New Jersey's Rate Schedule No. 1 General Metered Service as attached to the Board of Public Utilities order of July 15, 2026 ($22.58 monthly for a 5/8 inch meter, $6.0285 per hundred cubic feet); the attached tariff sheets are marked with a blank effective date. Typical use is about 6.65 ccf a month (roughly 5,000 gallons), backed out of the order's stated typical 5/8 inch customer (five-thousand gallons a month, a $1.95 or 3.21% increase) and the tariff rates.
Sewer: the borough states there is no charge for the sewer system, so sewer is modeled at $0. Garbage: the borough names Interstate Waste Services as its sanitation company and no resident fee or tax-bill line was found, so it is modeled at $0.
Electricity and gas: PSE&G Rate Schedules RS and RSG as in the October 1, 2026 tariffs, with BGS and BGSS supply, priced as in the other PSE&G cities here (electric weighted summer to other months; typical use 558 kWh a month from PSE&G's notice and 1,040 therms a year / 12 for gas from the BPU BGSS order, not Fort Lee figures).
Insurance: New Jersey's 2022 average homeowners premium from NAIC data, the latest figure found; it is a statewide average, not a Fort Lee figure. Local tax due dates were not readable on the borough's JavaScript tax page, so none are listed.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Fort Lee compares

A typical Fort Lee house against the 41 New Jersey cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Fort Lee	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	2.70%	2.66%	higher than 21 of the other 38 New Jersey cities we cover
Water	$752	$771	lower than 22 of the other 40 New Jersey cities we cover
Trash	$0	$0	lower than 3 of the other 29 New Jersey cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$2,993	$3,056	lower than 21 of the other 40 New Jersey cities we cover
Home insurance	$1,417	$1,417	in the middle of 40 other New Jersey cities we cover
Total	$18,175	$16,741	higher than 28 of the other 40 New Jersey cities we cover

Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.

Questions to ask your candidates

Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.

1. Trash

The fact: Trash pickup here costs about $0 a year for the standard cart, lower than 3 of the other 29 New Jersey cities we cover. Where trash is billed through the tax bill or a separate hauler, it is not counted here.

Ask: "Trash pickup here costs about $0 a year for the standard cart, lower than 3 of the other 29 New Jersey cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything about the service or the price?"

2. Electricity and gas

The fact: Electricity and gas for a typical house here cost about $2,993 a year, lower than 21 of the other 40 New Jersey cities we cover. Rates are set mostly by the utility and the state.

Ask: "Electricity and gas here cost about $2,993 a year for a typical house, lower than 21 of the other 40 New Jersey cities we cover. Which parts of that can the city influence, and what would you do about them?"

See who is running in your city →

Common questions about Fort Lee house costs

What is the property tax rate in Fort Lee?

About 2.70% of the value before exemptions a year (2025 tax year, Fort Lee Boro (Bergen County)), plus flat charges on the same bill.

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Fort Lee?

About $13,500 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions.

How much is the water bill in Fort Lee?

About $63 a month for water at typical use (6.65 units, or 4,974 gallons a month) on Veolia Water New Jersey (Hackensack).

How much does trash pickup cost in Fort Lee?

$0 a month for a house.

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Fort Lee?

Yes. Seniors 65+: Stay NJ: Homeowners 65 and older who owned and lived in their home all of 2025 can get up to $6,500 with income up to $100,000, $5,000 up to $150,000, or $4,000 up to $200,000.

How much does a house in Fort Lee cost to run each year?

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