I found this on the web for those who are interested. Its a FAQ for
a company that does revaluation appraisal in New Jersey
municipalities. I found it informative. Here is the link also
Why is my town undergoing a revaluation now?
Towns undertake revaluations periodically to reflect current market
conditions. Neighborhoods change, individual homes may change, but
assessments are mostly static. The one major exception is if you
improve or enlarge your dwelling. Since market conditions change,
and assessments rarely change over time, the relationship between
assessments and market values becomes more distant and must be
brought into line.
Top
What is the purpose of revaluation?
The purpose of the revaluation is to redistribute the existing tax
burden more fairly based on current market value: If your home is
worth $300,000 you should be assessed at $300,000. If your home is
worth $500,000, you should be assessed at $500,000. This principle
is established by the New Jersey Constitution, and spelled out
specifically in statutory law.
Top
Will my taxes go up after the reval?
Many homeowners think that the town is using the revaluation to
raise property taxes. This is not the case. The amount that you pay
in real estate taxes is determined by your municipal, county and
local school district budgets. If these budgets go up from one year
to the next, and state aid is static, property taxes will rise,
whether or not the town undertakes a reval.
Top
What happens to the tax rate after a revaluation?
Because the ratable base (total assessed value of all properties in
town) goes up after a revaluation, the tax rate is adjusted
downward. For example:
Pre-reval Assessed Value x. Tax Rate = Pre-reval Taxes
$250,000 x $4.00 = $10,000
Post-reval Assessed Value x. Tax Rate = Post-reval Taxes
$500,000 x $2.00 = $10,000
Top
Why do you need to come into my home?
The Division of Taxation mandates that we attempt to inspect the
interior of every dwelling and commercial/industrial/apartment
building in town. Inspecting the interior of your dwelling helps to
make a more accurate valuation of your property.
Top
I have not made any improvements to my property since the last
reval. Why does my house have to be inspected?
Unless an interior inspection is made, we cannot determine the
current condition of the dwelling. If the interior of your dwelling
is unchanged over the years, you should encourage the inspector to
see the interior condition.
Top
Who will inspect my dwelling?
The person inspecting your dwelling is a trained full-time property
inspector. He or she is not a tax assessor and not an appraiser. He
or she will not be formulating an appraisal of your house. Our
inspectors are trained to measure the exterior of the dwelling and
to inspect both the exterior and interior.
Top
What kind of identification do the inspectors carry with them?
These inspectors will have two forms of identification: a company-
issued badge with photograph, and also a town-issued letter of
introduction. Please make sure to check their identification before
allowing them into your dwelling.
Top
What is the inspector looking for inside my home?
They are not looking at your furnishings, your clothing, or your
pets. They are counting rooms and baths, noting the type of heating
system, as well as amenities such as fireplaces, decks, patios, etc.
They also look at the condition of the dwelling, as well as any
problem you bring to their attention.
Top
Do I have to let the inspector into my house?
You are not required to allow an inspector to enter your home.
However, if you decide not to allow an inspection, you can be sure
that your valuation will be substantially higher than it would have
been had you allowed the inspection. In fact, after we mail out our
valuation letters at the end of a reval, often the first people that
call us for an appointment are those who did not allow an
inspection. Before we can discuss the new valuation with them, they
will be required to allow us an interior inspection of the dwelling.
Top
I work most days, and return home late. How will my home be
inspected?
Our inspectors will make three attempts to inspect, usually arriving
at different times, on three different days. If, after the first or
second attempt, they are unable to gain entrance, they will leave a
card at the door with a telephone number you may call to arrange an
appointment.
Top
How are the valuations done?
Licensed appraisers review the inspection data and dwelling
measurements. They then analyze all recent property sales in each
neighborhood, giving most weight to the sales which occur closest to
October 1st of the year the reval is conducted. Those sales are used
to formulate all of the valuations in that specific neighborhood.
Top
When will I be notified about my new valuation?
Once all of the values have been determined by our firm, the Tax
Assessor will conduct a review, and either approve them, or modify
some. After the review and modification is completed, Realty
Appraisal Company will mail a notification letter to each property
owner in town. By regulation, this letter cannot be mailed before
November 10th of the year the reval is conducted.
Top
What should I do when I receive the value notification letter?
You should read this letter very carefully. In addition to the new
valuation of your property, it contains instructions on how you may
proceed. If your new valuation seems to coincide with your own
opinion of your home's value, or with recent sales in your vicinity,
you don't need to take any action.
If however, you would like to review your appraisal, you should call
the phone number provided in the letter, and schedule an appointment
to discuss your new valuation.
Top
How are the reviews conducted?
Informal reviews are held in a convenient location in your town,
often at the municipal building. They are scheduled on a variety of
days, including Saturdays. They are also held from early mornings to
the evenings, in order to accommodate of variety of homeowners
schedules.
At the review, you will meet with a representative of our firm. He
or she will review the property record card, make sure of the data
is accurate, show you which sales were used in determining your
valuation, and listen to anything you wish to tell us about your
property. If you have any information that might lead to a revision
of your property's valuation, now is the time to present it to the
representative.
After your informal review, you will receive a second letter
informing you as to whether or not your valuation has been revised.
Top
What is my recourse after the informal review?
If you are not satisfied with the result of the informal review, you
may file a tax appeal with your County Board of Taxation. This
appeal must be filed on or before May 1st of the tax year.
Top
When will I know what my new taxes are?
The new assessments and tax rate become effective on January 1 of
the new tax year. However, the new tax rate is not determined until
the municipal, county and school budgets are established in the late
spring/early summer of the year. The third and fourth quarter tax
bills will be adjusted to account for any under or over-payment made
in the first two quarters of the year. For example:
New Assessment x New Tax Rate = New Annual Taxes
$500,000 x $2.00 = $10,000
First two quarters estimated tax payment
(Based on previous years assessment & rate) = $5,500
($2,750 each quarter)
Remaining taxes due: = $4,500
($2,250 each third & fourth quarter)
Top
Realty Appraisal Company 4912 Bergenline Avenue West New
York, New Jersey 07093 201-867-3870
>
> Revaluation should be revenue neutral (but often isn't). Just
think of
> assessments and the tax rate as the matrix that will give the
required
> revenue. Both will be tweaked to give the required revenue. That is
> what property tax is all about (seriously). Two relevant stories. I
> thought ours was supposed to be 2010.
>
> 1.
>
> ABERDEEN The Monmouth County Tax Board denied the township's
request
> to delay implementing new property tax assessments because of bad
> economic conditions.
>
> County Tax Administrator Matthew S. Clark said approving the
request
> only would mean that those people who are paying too much will
> continue paying too much.
>
> Regardless of what is going on in the market, Clark said,
revaluations
> are necessary.
>
> Mayor David Sobel sent a written request to the board Dec. 2. A
> decision was made Dec. 17.
>
> The township completed a revaluation process in October, and the
new
> assessments are expected to take effect this month, Township
Manager
> Joseph Criscuolo said.
>
> 2.
>
> TOMS RIVER The newly completed revaluation shows the total value
of
> property in the township is about $1 billion less than last year,
> reflecting the decline in the housing market.
>
> Township Tax Assessor Glenn Seelhorst said the revaluation was
> completed last week, and Certified Valuations, the company that
> conducted the revaluation, has begun sending letters to the
> approximately 42,000 Toms River property owners.
>
> The revaluation, the first in 14 years, had been scheduled to be
> completed last year, but the mayor and Township Council requested a
> one-year postponement to factor in current property values.
>
> "We used the most recent (house) sales, and we are substantially
less
> than we were in the 2008 calendar year," Seelhorst said, explaining
> how the total value of property in the township in 2007 for the
2008
> tax-year study was roughly $18.8 billion. After considering the
2008
> sales for 2009, the number is about a billion dollars less at
> approximately $17.8 billion for the 2009 tax year.
>
> Resident Victor Antonelli, who lives in the Lake Ridge adult
> community, said he predicts his two-bedroom, two-bathroom house
will
> go down in value.
>
> "My opinion is that they waited too long to implement this
> (revaluation)," said Antonelli, 69. "The market collapsed, so when
> they did those evaluations, they were very high. You have to give
the
> taxpayers a fair shake. We are in a very bad economy."
>
> Antonelli said his home was valued at about $134,000 in 1994, and
at
> its peak value several years ago, it reached almost $300,000.
>
> "My house probably dropped from $300,000 to $230,000," he said of
its
> value now.
>
> Seelhorst said that when the last revaluation was done in 1994,
> several areas of the township were substantially under- or
> over-assessed. He said areas such as the barrier islands and other
> waterfront properties were under-assessed, and will see an
increase in
> appraisals and possibly taxes, and some areas, such as the adult
> communities of Greenbriar and Lake Ridge, were over-assessed.
>
> "A revaluation is a revenue-neutral exercise," he said. "It is
> designed to equitably allocate the tax burden based on sales. With
an
> assessment at 100 percent of market sales value, naturally the tax
> rate will change, as reflected in the notice of value from the old
> average rate of $3.38 per $100 of value to an estimated $1.23 per
$100
> of value, to collect the same amount of tax revenue."
>
> Daniel Polifroni, a resident in the Ortley Beach section of Toms
> River, also said it's a bad time to conduct a revaluation.
>
> "People are losing their homes and out of work, and then you raise
> taxes?" said Polifroni, 88, a longtime member of the Ortley Beach
> Property Owners Association. "If you want to reassess (the homes)
to
> knock (the value) down, go ahead. But to reassess it for any other
> purpose is ridiculous right now."
>
> Polifroni said the idea of reassessing homes in this economic
climate
> is bad governing.
>
> "They should discontinue it for better times," he said. "If times
are
> good, you expect to pay your fair share. But times are bad, people
can
> barely pay their taxes now."
>
> Toms River Mayor Thomas F. Kelaher said the revaluation was
postponed
> in order to evaluate the homes with the current market conditions.
>
> "A lot of people are going to be pleased that their evaluations are
> going to go up, and their taxes will not go up, or in some
instances,
> may even go down," Kelaher said.
>
> But the mayor agreed with Seelhorst that the waterfront, river, bay
> and ocean areas will go up.
>
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