Township revaluation delayed; state blamed

By: Vic Monaco
   East Windsor — whose tax assessor insisted in May that a county-mandated tax revaluation would be completed for 2008 — will have its completion date pushed back, like Hightstown, to January 2009.
   That was the word this week from Mercer County Tax Administrator Martin Guhl, who said the state had yet to approve the township’s tax maps, something that must be done before a revaluation can take place.
   "There’s a (state) backlog," he said.
   Mr. Guhl stressed that township officials wanted the work done by the original county deadline of January 2008 and it was the county Board of Taxation that suggested July 17 that the date be pushed back.
   "It’s waiting for our director to sign the extension, which I fully expect," he said.
   He said the board sees no reason to rush the important work.
   "We want to get it right," he said.
   In addition, he pointed out, the county had originally ordered revaluations for East Windsor and Hightstown to be completed at the same time because they share a regional school district.
   "We just thought it made sense to put them both off for a year," said Mr. Guhl.
   The tax firm hired by Hightstown — Vital Computer Resources, of Trenton — this spring asked the county for a delay because the state had yet to approve its contract. That request was approved. Even if that request hadn’t been made, Mr. Guhl said the county board would have likely pushed back both communities’ deadlines, given the state delays.
   The county has contacted East Windsor’s tax firm, Realty Appraisal, of West New York, which has agreed to honor its original contract cost, Mr. Guhl said. Borough Administrator Candace Gallagher said Vital Computer Resources has agreed to the same.
   The township has about 6,300 properties, compared to the borough’s 1,600.
   Borough Tax Assessor Rick Kline said in May that he had talked to the state and felt assured that the tax revaluation could be completed in time, adding that he anticipated work beginning in June. On Thursday, he said he was surprised by the extent of the backlog in the state approving tax maps, which comes before it OKs contracts.
   "There were just too many obstacles," he said, alluding in part to the delay in Hightstown. "Things got beyond anybody’s control."
   Mr. Guhl said he does not know when the township revaluation work will begin. But he said firms usually begin their work in the first few months of a year before a January deadline in the next year. That work includes physically inspecting every property along with reviewing property sales over a year to 18 months to evaluate trends and neighborhood values. Residents usually receive notification of new assessments in the November before a January deadline, he said. Residents have a right to appeal.
   In general, revaluations result in one third of taxes rising, one-third staying the same and one-third falling.
   When the county originally ordered the revaluations, township assessments were below 50 percent of fair market value and the assessments lacked uniformity, with some being closer to 25 percent and others near 75 percent, Mr. Guhl previously explained. In the borough, the average assessment had fallen to about 44 percent of fair market value.
   Mr. Guhl previously indicated concern in May, when the borough’s delay was announced, that the township also would have a problem. He indicated at that time that part of that problem could be due to the township awarding a contract later than Hightstown. Both towns were issued county mandates in May 2006, with Hightstown hiring its tax company in November but the township not doing so until this April.
   He said delays in tax revaluations are not rare. For instance, he said, of four ordered for 2006, three needed extensions, although none were a year long.