By: Sue Kramer
LAMBERTVILLE — It’s that time of year again!
Tax bills will be mailed out in just a few weeks and with the bills come a mountain of questions for Lambertville resident Rick Carmosino.
“As tax assessor for the City of Lambertville, that’s when I usually get most of my queries, questions and information-seeking people coming in to see me or to question their assessment,” he said.
He continued, “Backing up a bit, in January, the tax board mails out cards to all individuals with the new assessments for the upcoming year.”
Homes in Lambertville are assessed at 99.56 percent of market value.
Mr. Carmosino said the majority of the people who come to see him are concerned about the taxes they pay rather than their assessment.
“As tax assessor, I have no control over their tax rates or the amount of tax dollars that they pay,” he explained. “I make sure that everybody is assessed, where the properties are valued clearly and evenly, for everybody throughout the city.”
The job of assessing property isn’t always easy. Mr. Carmosino said that disparity in properties and “oddball sales,” where a property sells for an unexpectedly high price, can make his job difficult.
“The problem with market value in Lambertville is that the value is derived once a price is settled on,” he said. “It’s what a person is willing to pay for a property.”
Two properties near each other might be assessed at $100,000 but sell for $175,000, he explained.
“Next year, those sales are going to be looked at,” he said. “When I get two or three sales in a certain area of town, section or neighborhood, I have something to work on. Those two high sales will raise everybody’s property value because the market is being established in that area. The problem is when people are paying $50,000 to $100,000 more than the properties are assessed for. Once the market comes out and says I’m paying this outrageous ridiculous price for this property, that starts the ball rolling. That starts the raise in assessments. Lambertville is at an inflation rate that is spiraling constantly upward. When I see a $350,000 piece of property assessed for $260,000, I’m beyond words!”
Mr. Carmosino inspects newly sold properties when he received the deed. He also inspects properties based on building permits and does a sales study each October to get the property values for the following year. The average house in Lambertville, he said, is valued at $178,000.
“I can’t change a building’s value,” he said, “unless someone improves the building — puts an addition on, puts a brand new kitchen in, puts an additional bathroom in, adds a fireplace or central air.”
He is quick to point out that routine maintenance items such as painting, putting a new roof on, fixing a porch, plastering holes in walls or installing a new heating system don’t impact a property’s assessment, and yet, it would add to a property’s overall value.
Mr. Carmosino, 47, grew up on Church Street in Lambertville. He sold real estate for many years before starting his own business, Rick Carmosino Accounting and Income Tax on Bridge Street. He is a licensed Realtor, a certified appraiser and certified tax assessor.
The South Hunterdon graduate holds a bachelor of science degree from The College of New Jersey, where he majored in accounting and finance.
He became Lambertville’s assistant tax assessor in 1992 and the assessor in 1994.
He has been married to his wife, Lorraine, for 13 years. Mr. Carmosino loves to golf in his spare time. He is a past member of the Lambertville-New Hope Ambulance and Rescue Squad and an active member with the Fleet Wing Hook & Ladder Co. He’s been a firefighter for 18 years and has helped Fleet Wing with its yearly carnival for 26 years.
