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Message |
    
Daniel M. Jacobs, PP, AICP
Supporter
Username: Conrail
Post Number: 96
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 9:18 am: | 
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Many municipalities are beginning to place planning/property information on-line so that citizens can get information after-hours without having to go to village hall. SO, so far, is not one of these towns. If you want to know your neighbor's assessment, you have to go to village hall (though Ellen was nice enough to give me a few via email -- Thanks!). In any case, I discovered that if you go to www.zillow.com , you can get the current tax assessed value for any home in South Orange without leaving your own home. I checked out the values provided with a few neighbors and they are all accurate. Try it out! (Note: The site is intended to help home buyers select a bid price, but in areas with little information, zillow is using assessed values -- not useful for home-buyers, but very useful for taxpayers who don't want to go to village hall!) |
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 10669
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 9:40 am: |
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www.propertyshark.com has similar information, but not the maps. www.taxrecords.com also lets you check assessments, but is difficult to use.
I believe Zillow and especially Propertyshark will give you recent sales data as well. |
kevin
Citizen
Username: Eloso
Post Number: 84
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 9:44 am: |
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In other areas of the country zillow is listing past sales price and calculating a 'best price.' But not here for some reason. |
Howard Levison
Citizen
Username: Levisonh
Post Number: 439
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 12:58 pm: |
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You can also obtain the information at:
http://www.taxrecords.com/ |
peteglider
Citizen
Username: Peteglider
Post Number: 1792
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 1:38 pm: |
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Interesting -- lists my home as a 1 story -- but its 2 floors.
I am amazed at the difference in assessed values. Neighbors to one side (smaller home) -- assessed $25k more, neighbors 2 doors to the other side (larger home) $100k *less* than mine.
Is there a forumula in SO for assessments? E.g., $x/bedroom, or $x/sq foot??
When would have been the last time my house was revalued for tax purposes?
Pete |
peteglider
Citizen
Username: Peteglider
Post Number: 1793
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 1:49 pm: |
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..ok, so zillow is a cool toy with maps and all.
looked up my previous home in central NJ. taxes last year 1/3 of what I paid in SO last year.
now that's enough to make a guy cry!
/p
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Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 10675
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 1:53 pm: |
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Pete, SO was last revalued in the early 1990s, 1992 I believe. After the reval the real estate market changed and some would say it even crashed. Many people appealed their assessment and won, resulting in the mishmash that you have now. Plus, by nature mass revaluations of every structure in a town lead to a lot of errors as the inspectors rush to get the job done on time. |
peteglider
Citizen
Username: Peteglider
Post Number: 1794
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 2:09 pm: |
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Thanks Bob. I hope in the reval rush my house looks like a 2BR, 1BA to the inspectors...
;-) (yeah, I know, that wouldn't be fair...) |
SOrising
Citizen
Username: Sorising
Post Number: 6
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 8:39 am: |
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An Article from the Trenton Times (note especially the website of Citizens for Property Tax Reform):
Join effort for property-tax reform
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
In a recent letter, "Convention caveats" (Jan. 30), the writer posed a question at the end, asking "Is there an association of homeowners working on property taxes?" The answer to that question is a resounding "Yes!" Not only homeowners, but several business groups and other well-known organizations such as the AARP, the New Jersey League of Women Voters, the New Jersey League of Municipalities, and the New Jersey Coalition for the Public Good, to name a few. Those interested should visit the Web site of the Citizens for Property Tax Reform (www.citizens4propertytaxreform.org) and check out the information and resources there. I suggest people join an estimated 500,000 homeowner-taxpayers around the state so that we can continue to gain strength and momentum to push for a people's constitutional convention.
The letter writer's own mayor, Peter Cantu of Plainsboro, who is president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, can provide information, as well.
The writer poses two other questions. Impact fees, unfortunately, are one-time amounts and will not have the intended result of forever reducing the effect of new developments on school costs, nor will they help with ongoing infrastructure (roadway, sewer) maintenance for those new developments or any other services that the municipality might offer residents. Finally, the convention legislation has a few safeguards that are built in to preclude lopsided representation or undue influence of special interests. We can read the current version of bill A-5269 on the Web site mentioned above.
WALTER HELFRECHT
Upper Freehold |
Maryann
Citizen
Username: Maryann
Post Number: 4
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 3:17 pm: |
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Pete,
I'm not surprised to hear that the houses on one side of your street are assessed so much higher than on the other side of the street. I can only speak from my own experience. But, there were two young women assessing the houses on my street back in 1992. One assessed all of the houses on my side of the street. Her associate assessed all of the houses on the other side of the street. If you go to zillow.com and type in West Fairview Avenue, South Orange, NJ. you'll see what I mean. The girl who did my side of the street was obviously a novice. I think it might have been her first experience in assessing homes. The East side-- done by her more experienced associate -- is assessed much lower than the West side of the street. Yet, the homes are comparable. In addition, the novice didn't seem to understand simple terms like carpeting, decks, finished basements, finished attics,etc. For example, she claimed that my neighbor had a "deck"; No they didn't. They had a small landing and steps. She claimed that my home had wall to wall carpeting; No it didn't. It had hardwood floors with a few area rugs. She claimed that my home had a bathroom in the basement and a finished attic; It had neither of these. Needless to say, my neighbor and I went through with tax appeals and each of us won quite a decrease in our assessments from $159,000 down to $129,000. Thanks to those tax appeals, the new owners of our homes are now paying quite a bit less in property taxes. You might want to visit Village Hall and check your property tax record card. Your home may have been asessed by another "novice" and you may be taxed at this very moment for ammenities in your home that have never existed. The only way to know is to physically check your home's tax/assessment record card in Village Hall. If you find mistakes, you can correct them now and you won't have to pay further on them. However, you will not be entitled to a refund for the taxes you and the previous owners have already paid erroneously on those nonexistent amenities. I wish you luck in finding the answer to those inequities in your street's assessments. By the way, when the next assessment takes place: 1.You'll want to be at home to follow the assessor around, 2. You'll then need to visit Village Hall sometime afterward to check on your new assessment, catch any mistakes, and compare your home's new valuation with those of your neighbors, 3. You might want to consider taking an Adult School seminar on Tax Appeals if one is offered, and 4. If necessary, consider consulting a Tax Appeal firm for help.
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Joe R.
Citizen
Username: Ragnatela
Post Number: 280
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 9:42 pm: |
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http://www.njactb.org/
Try this site. It's free and maintained by the NJ Association of County Tax Boards. |
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 10755
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 8:34 am: |
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Not living in SO it really isn't any of my business, but I would suggest that you insist the VB post the new assessments on line after they are completed, but not finalized. MW did this and it helped many of us to understand the situation. |
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