County Mandates Revaluation; Township Wins Delay

The Township Committee at its regular meeting tonight is scheduled to ratify a court settlement with the county over a revaluation of all property in the township.

The County Board of Taxation more than a year ago ordered the township to conduct a revaluation of all property in town, business and residential, to determine its current value. It’s a process that is conducted about once a decade. Wall’s last revaluation was in 2000, township officials said.

But the town fought the order, delaying the revaluation for two years.

One reason: the expense. The other: timing, Mayor Jeffrey Foster said.

“We’re not happy about it,’’ Foster said. “It couldn’t come at a worse time for people – a down economy, and now all this with Sandy. I think it’s just uncalled for.’’

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Revaluation: Determination of which property is worth how much in today's money.
Why? To get an accurate assessment of properties in town, a revaluation is required about once every 10 years. Wall's last revaluation was in 2000.
When?: Behind-the-scenes work at the township begins immediately; Residents will be notified before inspectors come out to individual properties, beginning October, 2013.
Will my taxes go up?: Maybe. Conventional wisdom says that 1/3 of property values increase, 1/3 decrease and 1/3 stay roughly the same in any given revaluation.
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The two sides have come to an agreement that still forces the township to conduct the revaluation, but delay its completion by a year, putting off the potential tax effects on residents and businesses to 2015, according to the resolution to be ratified Wednesday.

A revaluation normally is due within a year. The deal the township has with the county gives them two years to complete the process. The new tax bills to township residents and businesses reflecting the new valuation would come in 2015, according to the resolution.

The township is updating its tax maps now, part of the overall process to assess the value of each piece of property in town. Later, assessors will travel to each home and business in town to conduct an evaluation of property value.

Those inspections will begin in Oct. 2013 and are to be completed by September, 2014, according to the settlement. Officials said residents would be given notice before that occurred, as a heads-up.

It’s a labor-intensive process. And a costly one, township officials aid.

Township Administrator Jeffry Bertand said the price tag for the process may tip $1 million. Foster put that price between $1 and $2 million.

“It’s a rather handsome expense,’’ Bertrand said.

General guidelines suggest that a revaluation – a determination of which property is worth how much today – increase property taxes for about 1/3 of the properties, decrease taxes for 1/3 of properties and leave 1/3 unchanged.

Even if that were true, and Foster said he has his doubts, raising taxes for anyone currently is unwarranted.

“Even 1/3 is too much for me,’’ Foster said. “And I’ve never seen mine go down, let’s put it that way.’’