| Author |
Message |
    
Nursie
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2001 - 4:37 pm: |     |
I tried to call Certified today to see if they were going to return and do a second assessment tour. They first asked my what town I was from, when I told them Maplewood I was dieconnected. When I called back and asked to speak to Diana (the person we are suppose to speak to about this) they again asked me what town I was from, and when I told them Maplewood again I was told that she could not take my call. She also never returned my call. Still waiting. Anybody else have this experience? |
Fairtax01
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2001 - 4:45 pm: | |
I've called Certified several times this week and I can't get them to return my phone calls. I've been hearing from several people who report Certified won't return phone calls or they are disconnected while waiting on hold. |
Thomas
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2001 - 8:20 pm: | |
I'v been trying to tell you people there is a real problem with certified. By the way how much did we them for this service? |
Fairtax01
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2001 - 10:30 pm: | |
To Thomas: I've heard we paid Certified about a half million dollars. Certified is beholden to Ed Galante who is beholden to the Township Committee. If the problem is with Certified on the surface, the obligation is with the Township Committee who must see that the assessment program was conducted in a manner that results in fair and proper assessments for every property owner in Maplewood. |
Thomas
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2001 - 11:30 pm: | |
I don't know how much of that 500k has been paid but Township committee don't fork over another penny. |
Njjoseph
| | Posted on Friday, January 12, 2001 - 9:11 am: | |
Gerry published the number last week, and my recollection is that it was $356K. It may be found in the archives if you're astute enough to find it.
Also, I wonder about the people's experiences with Certified not taking calls. I called them Tuesday, met with them Wednesday, and was highly pleased with the meeting.
I felt my assessment was very close, but just wanted to double-check the items used to calculate the valuation. This way, if there is some sort of lawsuit or change in valuation, it will be based on accurate items. There were a few TINY errors that Certified said they would have corrected. It may or may not change the assessment, but even if does, it wouldn't be significant. |
Rckymtn
| | Posted on Saturday, January 13, 2001 - 6:55 pm: | |
I too met with Certified, and the representative was very nice, polite, and understanding. In fact, I can't say a bad thing about my meeting with her. As for getting in touch with Certified, I wrote them a letter and the very next day received a nice phone call asking me if I wanted to meet with them that same day at Town Hall. I couldn't, but was offered several time slots over the next several days. My experience with Certified has been nothing but pleasant. And when I reviewed my property card at the meeting, everything, down to the last nook and cranny, was one hundred percent accurate. Just one person's take. And I hate to be too philosophical about this, but I knew Maplewood taxes were high before I moved here, and I knew that a revaluation was coming up in the year 2000 -- it's not like it was a secret or anything. Where were all the complainers at the BEGINNING of the process??? I'll pay what I have to pay, since I like it here, but I'll also let my elected officials know how I feel about it. |
Citizen
| | Posted on Saturday, January 13, 2001 - 8:10 pm: | |
Remember, Certified is only the symptom.
We should look beyond the issue of east vs west and whose is going up and whose is going down (I personally rather doubt the two will cancel out and the tax cookie jar will contain the same revenue income as before). There are longer term questions needing to be addressed, including: are we facing budget gaps that are not being publicly revealed; are there issues of mismanagement, both inherited and created by the current leadership, that have led to a need to increase tax revenues; what will the real property tax rate eventually be, and what will that rate be based on in terms of fiscal needs both current and long term; is the town's debt rating slipping, and if so what will that mean for a new bond offering and our future ability to raise badly needed infrustructure improvement funding?
Lots of serious questions, very few answers. The Town has the chance to set the record straight, let's see if they seize this rare opportunity. |
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