An upturn in tax appeals brought by owners of East Brunswick properties is proving costly to the municipality, according to township Tax Assessor Frank Colon.
Colon said at the May 11 Township Council meeting that there was a spike in appeals of 2014 taxes over the prior year. In Middlesex County, the deadline for filing a property tax appeal was April 1.
Colon said his office has had to investigate 444 tax appeals for the last tax cycle — an increase of 67, or 15 percent, over the prior year.
He said the total cost of the appeals is not yet known.
What distinguishes this year from last year, however, is that more of the cases are without merit, Colon said.
“This year I have seen more appeals without merit than any other year I can remember,” he said.
The tax appeals, which Colon attributed to an increase in attorney solicitations, absorbs time that the assessor’s department could be spending on other matters, according to Colon.
“Taxpayers really don’t know — they don’t know if they have a case unless they come in and talk to me,” Colon said.
While it costs just $5 to file a tax appeal on a home assessed at up to $150,000, Colon said the amount of overtime that goes into investigating the claims — such as visiting the property and taking photos — has a negative impact on the town.
“We’re wasting man-hours handling these cases,” Council Vice President Denise Contrino said. According to Colon, more attorneys have been encouraging residents to appeal their taxes, promising that the residents will not have to pay for the services unless the attorneys are able to secure a reduction in taxes.
Colon said these firms do not run an analysis on taxpayers’ properties when sending out the solicitations, but simply try to get as many people as possible to file appeals.
“The biggest enticement is that if they don’t get your reduction, you don’t have to pay,” Colon said. “There’s no risk. So, if there’s no risk, why wouldn’t they [the taxpayer] do it?”
“There’s always someone trying to beat the system,” Council President Michael Hughes said.
The township’s $59.3 million budget for 2015, which is scheduled to be presented to the public on May 18, is up $900,000 over last year. It carries in average hike of $60 in municipal taxes, which are just one component of a homeowner’s property tax bill. The vote to adopt the budget is set for June 8.