To Lower Property Taxes, Keep Kids Out

As local governments in New Jersey look for ways to lower sky-high property taxes, one idea has caught on: build communities that don't allow kids.

Age-restricted housing expands the tax base, but without the exorbitant cost of education (schooling for one child in New Jersey costs an average of $12,567 a year). The state is now home to one-fifth of the country's adults-only housing, making New Jersey the leader in a national trend fueled by baby boomers' seeking new homes after their children move out.

"[Exclusionary zoning] is pervasive in a lot of parts of the country, especially in the Northeast, where there isn't a lot of land to build on," says Robert Puentes, a fellow with the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program. "With property tax being such a big issue now, it's much more front-and-center."

Nationwide, 2.8 million households were part of age-restricted communities in 2005, up 29 percent from 2001. As many as 95,000 such units will be built in the United States this year, according to an estimate from the National Association of Home Builders.

Detractors say age-restricted housing swings the balance in a community toward a population of senior citizens, whose need for healthcare services can quickly cost just as much as schools.