| Author |
Message |
    
Nursie
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 10:18 am: |     |
Mine also came yesterday and no change for me either. Gotta start figuring out what I am going to do now! I wonder if they even read my request. Is anyone appealing to the county and do you think it will do any good? |
Nohero
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 10:47 am: | |
I'm concerned by the fact that we received a form letter which could have gone to anyone. It does not give the impression that a lot of thought went into the decisions about the last batch of requests. We didn't have an error as glaring as the ones where the square footage was just plain wrong, but it still would have been nice to receive an explanation about our concerns. |
Njjoseph
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 11:11 am: | |
Nohero -- yes! And if they couldn't send a customized letter because of the time it takes to type one up, they should have some sort of worksheet or hand-written notes on a form. It could have Xerox'd and attached. Do you or anyone else know if their review will be forwarded to the county if you appeal? |
Lydial
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 12:10 pm: | |
Galante told me that the assessment reviews were now public record - when I went down the town hall to talk to him personally (last Wednesday) he told me that I couldn't access my review. So I don't know - maybe this is another fight similar to the one we had to see our property record cards.
Lawyers will take your case on a contingency basis and if they/you prevail you'll pay the equivalent of one years' tax savings. The county can't raise your assessment for 3 years.
There's a good booklet in the reference section of the library that takes you step by step through the appeal process in NJ. |
Mtierney
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 12:14 pm: | |
Received my response yesterday, with no change. I agree with nohero, a little personal touch to the form letter would have been sincerely appreciated!
I am not sure if my request for review was even read since the points I addressed were not commented on.
Last nights property tax meeting at CHS was so poorly attended, you would never had thought the issue was such a big one for Maplewood!
I admit I stayed home and watched on cable. All things considered, I came away with a good feeling. Several of the people on the panel, our own mayor, and some speakers addressed the concern I have been raving about for months now.
Increased value of your assets (your home) does not automatically mean a person has more money to spend on taxes. These people finally seemed to understand the shock of sudden higher taxes to people who have made Maplewood their home.
Do I think we'll see any real relief any time soon? No. But, the issue is out there now and just maybe some positive results will follow.
I'll be sure to take good care of myself so that I may live to see them! |
Mtierney
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 12:17 pm: | |
Received my response yesterday, with no change. I agree with nohero, a little personal touch to the form letter would have been sincerely appreciated!
I am not sure if my request for review was even read since the points I addressed were not commented on.
Last nights property tax meeting at CHS was so poorly attended, you would never had thought the issue was such a big one for Maplewood!
I admit I stayed home and watched on cable. All things considered, I came away with a good feeling. Several of the people on the panel, our own mayor, and some speakers addressed the concern I have been raving about for months now.
Increased value of your assets (your home) does not automatically mean a person has more money to spend on taxes. These people finally seemed to understand the shock of sudden higher taxes to people who have made Maplewood their home.
Do I think we'll see any real relief any time soon? No. But, the issue is out there now and just maybe some positive results will follow.
I'll be sure to take good care of myself so that I may live to see them! |
Mtierney
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 12:19 pm: | |
Sorry about the repeat! |
Njjoseph
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 1:27 pm: | |
Lydia -- you've oversimplified the 3-year freeze. Sorry, but it's only 3 years if there are no significant changes. If you upgrade, or the market changes, you are eligible for reassessment during that period. Think of it this way: if housing prices go down (which many on this board stated would happen in Maplewood, due to the tax burden), would you be entitled to a tax decrease? If your house went down, too, then YES! I don't what is considered to be significant, but it might be 15%, and it's possible the housing market will change at least that much in a year or two.
I hate for you to think that you're getting a huge savings for at least 3 years, because it just isn't true. It's possible you will, but in this period of uncertainty, you shouldn't count on it. |
Lydial
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 1:46 pm: | |
Njjoseph - You're right! It's a freeze only if there aren't any significant changes. I've spoken to a couple of attorneys who said that "signficant" changes are almost unheard of in a 3 year period following a tax appeal(capital improvements notwithstanding).
The way law appears on the books and the way law is carried out in real life are often 2 very different animals. |
Njjoseph
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 1:54 pm: | |
Lydia, I hear ya. I just wanted to warn you, because if housing prices run (again), you'll be eligible for reassessment. It's a gamble, although the odds may be in your favor. But keep in mind that if a reval was done in 1998, and you owned your house, appealed and won, by the time that 2000 hit, you could have significant change in value.
I didn't know your next door neighbor's house was identical to yours. That should really help your case in an appeal, and I'm not sure why Mr. Galante couldn't review your property with your neighbor's in mind. Surely he can see the difference in assessment and knows by now that you will appeal. The appeal process, while expensive for you (possibly), will cost the town (and its taxpayers) as well, and the whole ordeal could have been avoided by a few minutes' work on Mr. Galante's part. What a waste. |
Pstob1126
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 4:33 pm: | |
Got mine yesterday as well. No change and no comments.
Sadly, Galante's lack of an explanation makes me wonder if the township is just denying the remaining protests, forcing us "malcontents" to engage in a time-consuming and expensive appeal to County authorities.
Had I the time and confidence in the system, I would follow through. But I don't, so I won't. And so, I sadly admit, I'm no longer in a position to complain.
Ain't this a great system. |
Joancrystal
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 5:13 pm: | |
When I dropped off my signed settlement agreement at Town Hall this past Monday afternoon, I was told that revised property cards would be available for those who had their reviews granted at least in part. Unfortunately, the persons I spoke with didn't think that these cards would be available until mid to late May at the earliest because of the sheer volume of work Mr. galante is presently faced with. |
Joancrystal
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 5:18 pm: | |
Lydial:
Are you sure that you and your neighbor have identical houses? They may look the same on the outside but have some major differences inside that you are not aware of.
If they are identical, you should ask your neighbor to show you the content of the review letter he/she sent. If you know why that review was granted, you might be able to follow a similar strategy this tax year with the County and/or next tax year with the Township. |
Lydial
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 6:46 pm: | |
Joancrystal - Yes, they are identical - same property cards, same shingles and color, same 1940's kitchen, same land size...same EVERYTHING except for an addition that was put up on the back of my house totaling about 400 square feet - that's why mine should always be slightly higher until one of us does a capital improvement. As far as comparing notes - we wrote our letters together - they included the same content about our respective and identical homes.
I'm not appealing - Galante told me I had a better chance taking their 20K reduction based on square footage (that I got him to agree to over the phone) than going on my own. Don't forget when you're appealing you've already been turned down by the assessment review process, another strike against the home team -- don't think that the county board doesn't take that into account.
njjoseph - I agree - what a waste.
I would still like very much to see the assessment review letter I submitted and see if there were any notations that would clarify this decision made by the tax assessor's office. |
Alidah
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 9:30 pm: | |
Got mine. No reduction.
LydiaL: Two of my neighbors are in the same situation as you. Both houses identical. I spend a lot of time inside each one. One is valued $20,000 lower than the other because the shower stall in the basement is inoperable (the assessment was lowered because of this). But the house valued $20,000 higher doesn't have a shower at all in the basement! Go figure. |
Kmk
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 9:45 pm: | |
Got mine today. Huge reduction - due to gross miscalculation of our square footage. Still, I have to decide whether it's the "fair market value" and sign the settlement form or hold out and file for a county review. I'm leaning to just sign and have the county review it a year from now, after everything is finally pinned down. |
Lydial
| | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2001 - 10:50 am: | |
Alidah - there seems to be mounting evidence that the assessment review process had a certain element of "randomness" to it. If your neighbor is going to appeal I would venture his/her best comparable is the identical house that went down 20K.
My question is: The assessment review letters that had concrete issues - such as sq. ft. errors that came back unchanged - what on earth was the methodology? That's something that should be explained by the tax assessor's office. Was there one tax assessor that rejected claims outright and others who considered them more closely? I think as taxpayers and citizens we deserve an explanation. |
Dytunck
| | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2001 - 11:15 am: | |
We received our assessors review notice last Friday. We got an assessment reduction of $3,200. That's eight-tenths of one percent. I thought that if the assessment was within 15%, you had little leg to stand on. Maybe we were 15.7% out of margin and Ed brought us back to within acceptable tolerances, or maybe we were thrown a bone to pipe down? What should I spend the $100 on?
Dy |
Joancrystal
| | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2001 - 5:09 pm: | |
It sounds as though some of us may be the victim of "offsetting factors" which were identified for the first time by the Town Tax Assessor during the final review.
In our case, about half the amount taken from the land value of our property was tacked on to the structure value (making it considerably higher than the figure CVI arrived at!). This resulted in our getting only about half of the overall reduction we asked for. |
Alidah
| | Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2001 - 4:49 pm: | |
LydiaL: About comparables, the Essex County Tax board clearly states on the instruction sheet that you have to use sales data, not assessment data, in your appeal.
They pretty much make it impossible for you to make a case on your own.
When I went to pick up the forms and commented on my situation, the ladies in the office made me feel really good. They said "Oh, that's Essex County. Gee, you think anyone will ever buy your house?"  |
Lydial
| | Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2001 - 8:32 pm: | |
Alidah -
I know it's hard to make an appeals case on your own - but good luck on your appeal. You stand a much better chance receiving a reduction if you file this year than if you wait until next year when chapter 123 -- the 15% corridor kicks in. That means if you're assessed within 15% above or below your valuation it's considered valid. |
Lydial
| | Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2001 - 9:25 pm: | |
Alidah - one more thing -- in a reval year you can compare your assessment to your neighbor's - Galante has told people otherwise (BTW -I wish I'd known this last week before I signed the stipulation he gave me!) I heard this from a member of the Essex county tax board. I don't know why Galante said otherwise so check it out yourself to be certain. |
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