EAST WINDSOR: Tax appeals skyrocket in township

By Sean Ruppert, Staff Writer
   The number of property tax appeals has skyrocketed in East Windsor this year, mimicking a trend seen throughout Mercer County.
   There were 104 appeals filed by property owners in the township before the April 1 deadline; a stark increase from the 15 appeals filed in 2008, according to information supplied by the Mercer County Board of Taxation.
   The deadline for Hightstown property tax appeals has been extended to May 1, due to the recent property tax revaluation. Thus far, there have been seven appeals in the borough, up from four in 2008, according to the county tax board.
   Countywide, there were about 1,300 appeals filed as of Wednesday, according to Mercer County Tax Administrator Martin Guhl. That is more than double the 551 appeals he said were filed last year.
   Residents who challenge their assessment can bring their case before the county tax board, however, the vast majority of those that were reduced in 2008 were settled with local tax assessors before they reached that point.
   East Windsor Tax Assessor Rick Kline said the cause of the increase in appeals is fairly obvious.
   ”It’s pretty simple; the economy and real estate market have tanked,” he said Tuesday. “That’s basically it.”
   Mr. Guhl shared this view.
   ”There has been a real decline in the economy. People are looking to cut costs, and filing a tax appeal is one way to do it.” Mr. Guhl said Tuesday. “They are being hammered by newspapers and the radio that their property values are down, and that they should get tax relief because of it. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.”
   Mr. Guhl said in order to file a successful appeal, a property owner must gather evidence of what the actual market value of their home was Oct. 1, which is the date to which the values are set. He said the best form of evidence is area sales of similar properties that occurred around that time.
   However, in order for the appeal to be granted, he said, the assessed value must be more than 15 percent off from the actual market value.
   ”Once the value is determined, it is purely mathematical,” Mr. Guhl said.
   He said this calculation is fairly simple in communities that recently have had a revaluation, such as Hightstown. The homes are assessed at full value so the assessed amount need only be 15 percent off from the actual market value.
   So the owner of a home assessed at the borough average value of $270,500, for example, needs to prove the market value of their property was worth less than $235,217 on Oct. 1 to win an appeal.
   However, for communities like East Windsor that have not had a revaluation in years, it is a little more complicated, Mr. Guhl said. Because the assessed values for East Windsor homes were set so long ago, they are, on average, only about 45 percent of their actual market value.
   So a house assessed at the township average of $133,719 would have an actual market value of about $297,000 if properly assessed. In order to win an appeal, the owner of such a home would have to prove the property had a market value of less than approximately $258,400 on Oct. 1.
   Mr. Guhl said last year 222 of the 551 appeals resulted in no change in the property’s valuation while 227 were settled out of court for less.
   Despite the state of home values, Mr. Guhl said he expects a smaller percentage of the appeals will be won than in years past. However, he said he could not predict what that percentage might be.
   ”Most years the appeals are based on evidence, but this year people are doing it out of emotion,” he said. “A lot of appeals are being presented with no evidence. That isn’t going to get you relief.”
   Mr. Kline said he tries to cooperate with the taxpayers who file appeals and will assist with their research, if necessary. He said his goal is to work in a nonadversarial way to make sure they get the assessment right.
   ”I am not a hard-nosed guy unless I am completely convinced I am right,” he said. “Other than that, I like to work with the people. My attitude is that if we can help them, we should.”
   He said it would be impossible to predict how much the appeals might cost the township in the end.