Residents say information helpful but more needed
By:Roger Alvarado
Hillsborough residents got their opportunity to quiz local, county and state tax assessors over the reassessment program during an informational question-and-answer forum designed to educate residents on the process Tuesday night.
More than 150 residents packed themselves into the courtroom at the municipal complex to learn about the process that has raised the ire of many residents who have been forced to bear the brunt of higher taxes as a result of it.
"My taxes went up 150 percent and I don’t know anything more today than I did three months ago," Patricia Kemp of Flagtown said after the meeting.
The meeting began with a review of the procedures used by the local and county tax assessors, and discussion of the rolling reassessment program that had been used in the last few years to bring property assessments closer to current market values.
But the meeting did not include discussion on other tax issues, such as local budgets and tax rates, which left many residents frustrated with the event.
"Hillsborough conducts an annual reassessment program," Hillsborough assessor Debra Blaney said. "The guidelines for reassessment districts are to inspect 20 to 25 percent of properties each year, review 80 percent of the line items and change 50 percent of the assessments."
Over the course of her discourse, Ms. Blaney told residents that they should not expect to see an increase in 2004.
That’s because the state has called for a moratorium on all property reassessments while state officials re-evaluate and change the whole assessment system.
"The only way you would see an increase would be if we performed an inspection and you had added a finished basement or added or subtracted a swimming pool or some sort of major addition to your home," she said. "The assessed values will remain unless we find something."
Ms. Blaney did say that she would like to file for reassessment in 2005.
According to Ms. Blaney, the yearly process makes sense for communities because the only other option is for a complete re-evaluations about every 10 years or so, which would cost taxpayers as much as $2 million.
The reassessment program has been in effect since 1996.
"It’s the county, municipal and board of education budgets that dictate the amount of money to be raised and the county Tax Board then formulates the tax rates by dividing the total assessment in to the budget," Ms. Blaney said.
Ms. Blaney noted that all assessments are done through analysis of sales trends, some neighborhoods may experience an increase or decrease in assessments or some may experience no change.
Early on, the panel raised eyebrows because the first 50 minutes of the meeting essentially had the assessors giving their job descriptions.
Flagtown resident John Delgigante expressed his dissatisfaction with the way the meeting had opened by telling the panel he felt it had an "image problem" and questioned the general lack of substance in what they had to say.
"I don’t think anybody here is getting a clean picture of how they get assessed," he said. "You need to make a presentation that the average person here can understand, so that you make everybody feel they know what’s happening."
After the meeting Charlie Mele of Marshall Road agreed with Mr. Delgigante’s sentiments, but said he did take a lot from the meeting.
"The first 48 minutes they read from a script and that was a waste of everyone’s time," he said. "But the Q and A session brought out information that people need to know such as where to get their property record cards and a copy of the cost book in order to understand the way properties are assessed and what is assessed."
Eileen Miller of Ernest Drive concurred: "I thought it was a very informative meeting and I was glad to see representatives from the state, city and township."
During the meeting it was pointed out that only 12 of the 21 towns in Somerset County have filed assessments and three, Green Brook, Manville and Raritan Borough, have not.
That, Committeewoman Sonya Martin, said is unacceptable and yet another reason why she’d like to see some sweeping changes.
But all in all, Ms. Martin said the meeting was successful.
"I think it answered a lot of questions regarding this process," Ms. Martin said. "The residents of Hillsborough left with a far better understanding than when they walked in."