New Jersey's Obsolete Property Tax Assessment Laws Create an Unfair Property Tax Burden for Most Property Taxpayers!
HOW IS THE NEW JERSEY PROPERTY TAX SYSTEM UNFAIR & OBSOLETE?
- The assessment component in the calculation used to determine your property tax bill is inaccurate the within the first two years a value has been placed on it. The current Assessment Model in New Jersey changes the value every 10 years or so. The Assessment Card you receive in the Mail each October is therefore inaccurate unless your municipality has done a Revaluation or Reassessment.
- Even if the value is know to be incorrect there are a limited number of reasons an assessor can change the value without the property owner filing a tax appeal.
- Every Municipality receives ratio by the Division of Taxation each year to be used be applied to your assessed value to determine your tax levy. This is not transparent!
- Chapter 123 legally permits your assessment to be under or over accessed by 15% (that's a 30% acceptable range of inaccuracy) and be considered correct and therefore difficult to win a tax appeal. That means other taxpayers are making up the revenue shortfall in their share of taxes to make up for the difference of the under assessed properties.
New Jersey is one of only a handful of States in the United States that uses a Traditional 10 Year
Revaluation Model to place the value on properties. Majority of states do reassessments every 1 to 5 years.
According to Tax Foundation.org, New Jersey had the highest effective property tax rate of 2.19% in the United States in 2016! Homeowners in the New Jersey pay the highest property taxes of any state in the country, with rates in some areas more than double the national average. The average effective property tax rate in New Jersey is 2.19%, compared with a national average of 1.19%.
Politicians, News and Press continually talk about Property Tax Reform and little or nothing is accomplished year over year. Why? Some people make a lot of money and give political donations from money they accumulate from the current systems inaccuracies.
More then half of Property Taxpayers in New Jersey are overpaying or underpaying their fair share of the tax levy. This is due to an antiquated Assessment Model where property assessments can be incorrect and most changes (corrections) can only be done by filing an appeal to your County Tax Board.
The broken assessment System legally keeps taxpayers over or under paying property taxes while many make a lot of money at the property owners expense every year defending values that are inaccurate.
The system can be fixed but there is resistance from powerful politicians, professionals, and organizations that are self serving and thrive on the current obsolete and unfair systems.
Fairness: For every dollar someone is underpaying in taxes in property taxes, someone is overpaying to make up the difference.
- Equalization ratios are applied each year by the Division of Taxation it unfairly raises or lowers assessments throughout a municipality at the same rate irregardless of the Class of property or any changes in the value changes in neighborhoods, the economy, market conditions, environmental changes or development. (Note: this does not apply to Municipalities participating in the Monmouth County Assessment Demonstration Program or some municipalities in Somerset County that do annual reassessments.)
- Changes on assessments can only be made if an individual files an appeal even if the value of a neighborhood had changed and neighbors had successful appealed and received relief.
- Some neighborhoods may be artificially valued lower or higher for political purposes. (Note: this does not apply to Municipalities participating in the Monmouth County Assessment Demonstration Program (ADP) or some municipalities in Somerset County that do annual reassessments.
- Revaluations are ordered by the County Tax Boards when certain criteria have been to place more accurate values in a community. Some Municipalities throughout the State are way over due for Revaluations and therefore many people are over paying to make up the difference for the people underpaying for long periods of time. (Note: this does not apply to Municipalities participating in the Monmouth County Assessment Demonstration Program (ADP) or some municipalities in Somerset County that do annual reassessments.)
- Chapter 123 legally authorizes your assessment to be over or under assessed 15%. That is a 30% margin of error that is acceptable and in most cases appellants cannot overcome the burden of proof for relief from the County Tax Board. (Note: this does not apply to Municipalities participating in the Monmouth County Assessment Demonstration Program (ADP) or some municipalities in Somerset County that do annual reassessments.)
Transparency: New Jersey uses a ratio system that modifies your properties assessment every year and the new valued is not given to you each year.
- The assessment card mailed to you each year following a revaluation reflects the same value as the one determined by the revaluation even though a ratio has been applied and unless you know the ratio and how to calculate your new value. (Note: this does not apply to Municipalities participating in the Monmouth County Assessment Demonstration Program (ADP) where every year the assessment card reflects 100%).
Note: The following Monmouth County Municipalities have Opted-Out of the ADP: Allentown, Avon By The Sea, Belmar, Freehold Boro, Highlands Boro, Manasquan Boro, Marlboro Township, Millstone Township, and Wall Township. These municipalities are in the Broken Traditional Assessment Model.
