Municipal tax rate to drop from 59 cents to 27 cents per $100 valuation
By: Emily Craighead
WEST WINDSOR The results of the township-wide property revaluation are in, and values increased nearly 2½ times since the last revaluation in 1993.
Individual homeowners are seeing a range of increases in their assessments, Tax Assessor Steve Benner said, with the average home assessment increasing from $239,500 in 2005 to $575,200 in 2006.
But not all homes have risen in value at the same rate as the average home, Mr. Brenner pointed out.
"It depends on when they came into existence and how fast values have risen versus how fast values have risen in other parts of the town," he explained. "Market changes are not always uniform."
In Canal Pointe, for example, properties were assessed at about 30 percent of their true value before the revaluation and have therefore risen more than 2½ times in value. But property assessments in Village Grande were close to market value and did not change significantly.
"We need to get as close to equal as possible, and we’ve accomplished this," Mr. Benner said.
As a result of the revaluation, the municipal tax rate will drop precipitously from 59 cents per $100 of assessed value in 2005 to 27 cents in 2006.
Under the proposed 2006 budget, the owner of a home assessed at the new average of $575,200 would pay $1,553.
Last year, the owner of a home assessed at the old township average of $239,500 paid $1,413 in municipal taxes.
The proposed $31.4 million budget for 2006, up 8 percent over last year’s budget, is set for introduction May 22.
The ownship Council must still review proposals made by the administration in response to members’ questions about the proposed budget, according to Chief Financial Officer Joanne Louth.
Those changes include trimming funds set aside for overtime in several departments, and adding $3,000 for zoning board legal expenses and $8,100 for expenses in the Public Works Department. Since the proposed budget was presented, the township has been awarded a $23,000 clean communities grant and a $20,000 smart future planning grant, which have been added in.
The total tax rate in West Windsor including municipal, school, county and open-space taxes was $4.26 per $100 of assessed value last year, putting taxes at $10,202 for the owner of a home assessed at the township average.
This year, with an estimated tax rate of $1.92 per $100 of assessed value, the owner of a home assessed at the new average would pay $11,043, officials said.
"Going in, there was a tremendous spread between properties in neighborhoods," Mr. Benner said. The revaluation, he added, has evened that out.
The greatest property value increase occurred on farmland, which rose 352 percent. Assessed values rose 215 percent for commercial property, 246 percent for residential property and 349 percent for apartments. The value of industrial property rose only 113 percent.
Residential property comprises 68.7 percent of the township’s property, and commercial property comprises 24.5 percent. The results of the revaluation show a 1.5 increase over last year in the proportion of residential property values compared to other classifications of property.
"That’s not a tremendous swing," Mr. Benner said.
Now that they have their new assessments in hand, many homeowners are looking to challenge them, Mr. Benner said. He has some advice for homeowners considering filing an appeal with the county board of taxation.
"Their first inclination is to compare their assessment to their neighbors, which is somewhat logical, but state statute does not allow that to come into play (in appeals)," he said. "You have to compare to comparable sales because that is what the state and the county tax board will look to for proof."
That information is available at the township tax assessor’s office.
Appeals must be filed with the county board of taxation by 4:30 p.m. June 9.
The outcome of those appeals is unlikely to influence the overall results of the assessment, according to Mr. Benner.
"There would not be much of an effect from the appeals because the vast majority of appeals heard and settled this year would be residential," he said, adding that limitations to the court calendar make it unlikely that commercial appeals would be heard this year.

