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RINGWOOD - Revaluation pain distributed unevenly
(by Teresa Edmond - Staff Writer - October 08, 2008)
RINGWOOD - Due to the fickle real estate market, the borough’s 10-month-long revaluation has observed that residents owning bigger houses could see their property values drop and yet have their taxes increase, while residents with smaller homes would see both their values and taxes decrease.
“The real estate market is not very strong right now,” said Richard Motyka, borough assessor. “The hardest hit market has been the higher end, more expensive larger homes.”
Motyka gave the Borough Council an update of the revaluation at its Oct. 2 work session meeting. The revaluation firm, Appraisal Systems Inc., has been doing this for around 10 months. Appraisal Systems has offices located in Glen Rock, Morristown and Brick Township.
Appraisal Systems inspected many of the borough’s houses at least twice during the revaluation. The firm will send letters to the remaining homes the week of Oct. 6, reminding them to get their homes appraised.
Those who had their properties revaluated will get letters revealing the assessment in early November. By state law, property values that stand on Oct. 1 are the values that assessors should use to determine next year’s taxes.
Even if the revaluation firm is “over 90 percent” done with the process, Motyka encouraged anyone who hasn’t gotten their properties revaluated yet to contact the firm for an appointment. The number for Appraisal Systems’ Morristown office is 973-285-9940, and the Glen Rock office number is 201-493-8530.
“You probably won’t like what you get if you don’t get your home reassessed by an inspector,” he said.
Judging from the real estate market’s current state, Motyka said that there are “no surprises” regarding the shift in home property values during the revaluation. He said that compared to assessment numbers from 20 years ago, the borough is at an average rate of assessment sales at 43 percent. The non-tax assessment grew an average 2.1 percent, the number the professionals expected to see, Motyka said.
As a result of the revaluation, some homeowners will see their property taxes increase, some will decrease and some will remain the same, Motyka said.
Mayor Walter Davison clarified that the revaluation only “redistributes the tax levy,” and will not raise any revenues in the town.
Part of the revaluation process is to divide the town into different neighborhoods because professionals could determine the types of houses commonly found in each area. Homes that lost a disproportionate percentage of value will see fluctuations in their taxes. Those with a loss of value below the neighborhood mean will see a decrease in their tax rate. Lose less than the average and taxes will increase.
Those who performed work on their homes without seeking proper municipal approvals may also be in for a rude awakening. Typically when a revaluation is done, unassessed improvements to homes are added to their overall assessment boosting their property taxes.
“I’d rather warn people that this is coming,” Motyka said. “It’s a simple fact a certain amount of money needs to be spent, and it’s divided as equitably as possible among the homeowners in town, based on their assessment that will be set at true value.”
Deputy Mayor Donna Anderson said that those living in the bigger houses could be “alarmed” at Motyka’s news and asked if they should contact Appraisal Systems. Motyka advised to wait for the firm to give residents their numbers.
“It would scare me if I were in some of the areas that you said might (have taxes) go up,” she said.
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