HOWELL — The Monmouth County Board of Taxation has directed municipal officials to reassess all properties in Howell in time for the 2012 tax year, according to a township press release.
The press release states that the reassessment of properties is designed “to provide uniformity and equality in the distribution of the property tax burden based on appraisals at market value.”
The press release states that a property owner’s new property tax bill cannot be estimated without a tax rate, which in turn cannot be determined until the assessments are complete and operating budgets for Monmouth County, Howell Township, the Howell K-8 School District and the Freehold Regional High School District have been certified.
The press release advises Howell residents not to apply the current tax rate for each taxing entity to their property’s new assessed value in an attempt to determine the total amount of their new tax bill.
Generally speaking, the tax rate of each taxing entity changes following a reassessment of all properties in the municipality.
Municipal officials expect a final review of all data and calculations to be completed in January once the data collection phase of the project is finished.
After the calculations are finalized, residents will receive the new assessed value of their property in a mailing from Reality Appraisal Company, which is assisting the municipal tax assessor with the reassessment.
The mailing will inform residents how to discuss the assessment with a company representative. The filing deadline for residents whowant to appeal their property’s appraised value is May 1, 2012.
The reassessment will reflect changes in market values in Howell since the last revaluation of properties was conducted in 2006.
According to state law, real estate must be assessed at current market value, which is defined as the price of property if sold in the open market with buyers and sellers acting voluntarily.
To comply with state law, Howell properties were assessed as of Oct. 1.
Following the 2006 revaluation, a residence that was considered to be an average home in Howell was assessed at $355,000.
In 2011, municipal officials said the assessment of an average home in Howell had dropped $5,000 to $350,000.
Howell’s total tax rate for 2011 is about $2.17 per $100 of assessed valuation. The total tax rate can vary slightly depending on the fire district in which an individual resides.
Using an approximate total tax rate of $2.17 per $100, the owner of a home that is assessed at the township average of $350,000 is currently paying about $7,595 in property taxes.
That total amount includes taxes paid to Howell Township, Monmouth County, the Howell K-8 School District, the Freehold Regional High School District, a fire district and several other taxing entities.