Monmouth County Tax Administrator Matthew Clark provided Millstone Township residents and Township Committee members with an explanation of the county’s property assessment program during a presentation at the Jan. 21 meeting of the governing body.
The property assessment program was mandated through state legislation. Township officials said they did not wish to participate, but had no choice but to comply with the law.
Committeewoman Nancy Grbelja said, “Personally, I really objected [to joining the program]. If there was something we could have done, we would. We were never going to do this until I realized that legislatively it had been done. We had to do it.”
After property values for 2015 were adjusted, the county tax administrator mailed the 2015 assessment cards to property owners. Any property owner who did not agree with the assessment had until Jan. 15 to file an appeal with the Monmouth County Board of Taxation, according to officials.
Clark said the assessor has the responsibility to annually review and revise every property in the municipality and adjust its assessment to market value.
Residents had a chance to question Clark about the assessment process.
Ray Dothard asked if taxpayers would have to obtain the value of comparable properties to show if the taxes were too high for their specific assessment.
A property owner’s annual property taxes are calculated based on the assessed value of his or her property. The higher the assessment, the more that individual will pay in property taxes.
“It is not that [a property assessment] stays stagnant until you force the hand of the assessor,” Clark said. “He has, for the first time, not just the authority to, but the responsibility to actually delve into every single individual property and, based on what the market says, adjust it so that the assessment equals market value. That must happen each and every year.”
Barry Frost asked whether in five years the transition to another system might prove problematic financially.
“Is it possible you will not find enough money to support the budget and what is needed in the county and that taxes throughout state would have to be raised?” Frost asked. Clark responded “with a high level of confidence, the answer is no.” One resident asked how Millstone was different from other municipalities and whether officials were already “doing the right thing” in the past regarding property assessments.
Clark praised Millstone as “atypical.” For example, Millstone has more frequent adjustments by township Tax Assessor Thomas Davis, who has the ability to perform assessments on his own, internally, he explained.
“Your assessor owns and manages a reassessment firm and he also has a tool set that is unusual,” Clark said. “Not only is he an assessor for multiple jurisdictions, but he has the history of being able to implement the mass appraisal that is one of the targets of this overall program. The difficulty will probably not be felt until Mr. Davis moves on.
“In a more typical market, you try to find someone who has his credentials,” Clark said. “You will find assessors and experienced people, but only a handful have experience with the mass appraisal that Mr. Davis has and fewer who have the overall evolution having lived through this program…”