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Gerardryan
| | Posted on Friday, February 2, 2001 - 5:33 pm: |     |
The following appeared on page 1, continued to page 27, of the Thursday Feb 1 Millburn Item.
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Assessment off books until 2002
By Anne L. Malyska
Of The Item
With reassessments making the news lately in Maplewood, and township property tax bills due today, many local residents have been wondering when a reassessment would be implemented in this township.
But the word is out; Millburn officials have agreed to hold the township reassessment, completed last year, "off the books" until 2002.
Township Assessor Ernie Del Guercio and members of his staff finished a reassessment in November; in doing the reassessment, they conducted full measurements and inspections of every piece of property in town, with few exceptions.
But soon after the completion, Mr. Del Guercio began to have some concerns, he said. With news in late November of a possible change in the real estate market, he thought it best to wait and see.
"At the time we were going to go forward," Mr. Del Guercio said, "we were concerned that the economy in 2001 would drop -- not to recession proportions -- but slow down enough to have an effect on property values.
Because the township comprises such a wide range of properties with a varying range of values, he was concerned, he said, that a shift may not affect all properties equally. Waiting one year to test the township real estate sales against the assessments will let the assessor's office determine whether changing economic conditions had any effect in the real estate market.
"It's a very conservative, very cautious approach," he said.
This method will allow for a fair, uniform and accurate assessment for all properties throughout the township, Mr. Del Guercio said.
After receiving permission from the Division of Taxation director's office, the decision was made. Now through October 1, a date predetermined by law in which all property values must be established, the assessor's office plans to check market sales against their assessments for accuracy.
Officials were careful to point out, however, that problems affecting residents in nearby Maplewood, whose reassessment was put "on the books" this year [N.B. this is not correct, nothing is on the books yet; our timeline has been extended - gwr], will not surface here in the township.
"The bells and whistles haven't gone off here because of what's happened in Maplewood," said mayor Thomas McDermott in last week in an address to the Republican Club of Millburn-Short Hills.
Mr. Del Guercio concurred.
"These concerns should be completely alleviated. We are different," Mr. Del Guercio said. "It's comparing apples and oranges.
"Maplewood doesn't have the commercial industrial base; these are ratables that make the situation completely different," he added. "Those are not concerns that should be applied to the Millburn assessment."
The township completed its assessment ahead of a court order, unlike a handful of other municipalities in the area, and received the state's approval to hold off for one year. But Mr. McDermott pointed out to Republican Club members that doing a reassessment is neither an option nor a choice.
"It is the law and it's fair," he said. "It's the fairness of taxation."
Despite the legal basis for reassessments -- this township's last one was in 1984 -- it is a process replete with misunderstanding. One of which is its purpose; the other is its effect.
"A reassessment is not a means by which a governing agency raises taxes," Mr. Del Guercio said. "The only time taxes go up is when spending goes up.
"All the reassessment does is evenly distribute the burden of taxation among all types of property," he added. "A reassessment is not a means by which taxes are raised. It is only a means by which taxes are made uniform, and everyone pays their fair share." |
Interalia
| | Posted on Sunday, February 4, 2001 - 3:52 pm: | |
"...changing economic conditions". Maplewood was reassessed at the peak of the market. The NASDAQ has dropped 50%, unemployment is at a high, Greenspan in lowering interest rates twice a month to save a failing economy. The town is being torn apart by an revaluation that no longer is valid. To apply it negates the very purpose it was performed for in the first place....FAIRNESS. A redo would be justified if only because of the tremendous change in the economy; i.e., disposable income. |
Tracks
| | Posted on Monday, February 5, 2001 - 11:26 am: | |
"A reassessment is not a means by which a governing agency raises taxes," Mr. Del Guercio said. "The only time taxes go up is when spending goes up.
Above quote is from the quote from the tax assesor in Milburn. It is not an accurate statement. If the towns ratables are decreased (i.e. appeals, ) or if there is a decrease in state aid then taxes go up without an increase in spending. Both of these things happen in towns like Maplewood. For Milburn, which has the luxury of the mall and other lucrative ratables and an increase in state aid they can well afford not to increase taxes. Actually, why are the taxes so high in Milburn considering the amount of ratables they have and the amount of state aid they get? |
Aruba18
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 6, 2001 - 12:42 am: | |
Okay, TC, now what is your excuse? It seems to me that Millburn has cautious and conservative leadership; leadership that is truly concerned about ALL THE RESIDENTS, not just some who are upset because they have now found out that they have overpaid, and not just some who are facing enormous increases in their property taxes..Isn't it time for some responsible leadership????? |
Tracks
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 6, 2001 - 12:30 pm: | |
Aruba, As I see it, Milburn might be making a bigger mistake by waiting. One it leaves them open to massive appeals from residents in the areas that have not increased as much in value. Two is that we might not be at the peak of the market yet. With interest rates coming down, and a booming market in Manhattan, and with a top rated school system, along with lower taxes than most communities in Essex county (Thanks to the short hills mall). This could mean that they will wind up with an assesment that turns out to be timed even worse than if they did it now.
I think they are going to wind up with a bigger problem by waiting, not to mention that I would have an issue with not using a third party assesor instead of a local one. |
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