This letter is in regard to a new pilot program in Monmouth County which will revalue homes yearly for taxation purposes.
There will be required inspections once every five years, then speculation about values based on the prices of sold properties. Everyone else will be taxed on those values instead of the real value of what they may own. Depreciation is not considered for unimproved properties.
It is questionable whether anyone should be taxed on the improvements another homeowner makes to enhance the sale value of their property. This practice is ludicrous, it may be illegal, and it certainly is arbitrary and capricious.
No one is required to invest in improvements. It is a homeowner’s choice not to update kitchens and bathrooms. The motive driving politicians’ thinking is money and where to get more of it. Fairness completely escapes them. Property tax problems in this state hold every homeowner hostage. This newest scheme will make mental health patients of homeowners with the relentless anxiety associated with such a program.
This portends a vicious cycle of angst that could repeat yearly if a homeowner disputes their assessment. Homeowners on fixed incomes, the elderly, and those with limited incomes, etc., will be overwhelmed by this program.
Think of the costs also associated with the appeal process. Imagine the mortgage companies trying to deal with borrowers and payment requirements.
Residents with the wherewithal to get out will leave this state. Estate and inheritance tax policies that are added to the property tax burden are literally driving people out of New Jersey.
Barbara R. Thorpe
Middletown