A group of homeowners in some of the township’s newer residential subdivisions say that the township’s assessment ratio is resulting in disparities.
By: Bill Greenwood
MONROE Four homeowners in the Regency and Renaissance developments have filed suit against Monroe seeking a townshipwide property-tax revaluation and adjustments to the township’s current assessment ratio.
The residents John Keane, of Country Club Drive; Gerald Krzyzkowski, of Glen Eagles Way; Norman Rubenstein, of Orleans Road; and Frank Giubileo, of Valencia Drive filed suit Feb. 2 in state Superior Court in Middlesex County.
The suit claims they are being charged approximately 70 percent more in property taxes than owners of comparable houses in the township’s older communities because the township’s assessment ratio, used to convert fair market value into assessments, has been "artificially inflated."
The plaintiffs are members of the Concerned Citizens of Monroe Township, which consists of over 1,000 residential homeowners, according to a press release issued by the Real Estate Tax Appeal Group of the Princeton-based law firm Archer & Greiner, which is representing the group. Concerned Citizens says it is "concerned with fair and equitable property taxation in Monroe Township."
Monroe Township Attorney Joel Shain declined to comment on the litigation Tuesday but said his office would meet with township Tax Assessor Mitchell Elias and file a response to the allegations with the court within 30 days. Mr. Elias also declined to comment on the litigation Thursday.
The state Division of Taxation calculates the assessment ratio by comparing assessed value and actual sale price for properties that have been sold in a given municipality. It then averages those values in a complex formula to determine the township’s ratio, according to the state Department of Treasury.
However, some sales such as those made between relatives, foreclosures and bankruptcies are excluded from the division’s calculations, according to the Department of Treasury.
The lawsuit alleges that approximately 300 sales were inappropriately excluded from Monroe’s calculations.
"These exclusions were a result of an attempt to create an artificially high assessment ratio that is not in line with the actual common level of assessment in Monroe Township in violation of the laws of this state and of the state and federal constitutions," the lawsuit states.
Mr. Keane, a plaintiff in the suit, said he became suspicious when he received an $11,000 tax bill on his property three years ago. He said the average in Monroe Township at the time was about $4,500 at that time.
After finding that tax bills had ranged from $8,000 to $15,000 in his development, he and several other homeowners conducted a review of sales data covering sales between July 1, 2002, and June 30, 2004, he said. They determined that 300 sales were not used even though the residents believed they were usable sales. Leaving the sales out inflated the township’s assessment ratio, increasing assessments for new houses, he said.
"We’re not looking to get away with anything; we just want everything to be equal," Mr. Keane said. "I’m paying more just in school tax than average people in Monroe are paying for their entire tax."
The assessment ratio dropped 14 percent for 2007 after the township and Mr. Elias were notified of the homeowners’ findings, according to the press release. However, the release claims this drop does not correct the township’s prior errors.
"It’s almost impossible to go back and correct the ratio at this point," Jeff Gordon, an Archer & Greiner attorney representing the plaintiffs, said. "We really think there should be a revaluation."
A municipalitywide revaluation would correct the problem by resetting the assessment ratio to 100 percent, making the fair market value and assessed value equal, he said..
Mr. Elias did not return calls for comment.

