Property reassessments to be on books by '09
Reassessment of homes begins when state approves contract
BY COLLEEN LUTOLF
Staff Writer

Brick residents can expect to see reflected in their 2009 tax bills the results of a township-wide revaluation the Township Council approved Monday night.

The council voted unanimously, 6-0, to hire Mendham firm Appraisal Systems Inc. for $1.46 million.

Council Vice President Stephen C. Acropolis was absent from the meeting.

Although acting Business Administrator Scott Pezarras and Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli had urged the council to grant the contract in July, the council delayed the contract approval.

"Originally we waited because we had time to wait," council President Anthony Matthews said Tuesday. "The housing market was so overinflated, we waited for it to adjust itself. It wasn't in the best interest of Brick Township. We tried to legally to delay it as long as we could."

One-third of township property values traditionally increase, decrease and maintain their value after a revaluation, Pezarras said.

Although that seems like bad news for those whose property values increase, the tax rate usually drops by half after a revaluation, Pezarras said.

The council's business and finance committee took that time to interview the two firms whose base bids were only $1,165 apart from each other.

Certified Valuations submitted the slightly higher bid, Pezarras said.

To begin the revaluation, Pezarras now sends the contract down to the state for approval. Appraisal Systems assessors are already looking for a Brick headquarters, Pezarras said.

"They secure the office space in Brick Township, set up their phone system and once the contract's approved by the state, they start doing field work," Pezarras said.

The Ocean County Board of Taxation ordered Brick in February 2005 to complete a revaluation that would take effect in 2008.

Because the revaluation will take two years and was put off another year by the council's delay, it is likely the township will have to request an extension from the county taxation board. The township would not be penalized for requiring a suspension, Pezarras said.

The rental fees are included in the contract price, he said.

What may increase the $1.4 revaluation price tag is if additional line items, such as subdivisions or any new properties, are added onto the tax rolls between now and the time the reassessment is finished, Pezarras said.

The $1.4 million includes work associated with tax appeals, but not appeals that are filed at the state tax court level, such as properties that exceed $750,000. Waterfront properties have the greatest probability of falling into that category, Pezarras said.

"We have a lot of waterfront property," Pezarras said. "That's why when we viewed both contracts side by side" the administration recommended Appraisal Systems. That firm's rates for those types of tax appeals were more reasonable.

Some Democrats accused the Republican majority of delaying the revaluation because several of them, including Acropolis, own waterfront homes. Former Democratic Councilman Frederick Underwood surmised that since most waterfront homeowners vote Republican, the Republicans wanted the revaluation to get on the books after next year's election when four of the seven council seats are up for grabs.

Republicans scoffed at the notion. Even if the township began the revaluation when the administration suggested, residents' tax bills would not reflect the reassessment of their homes until 2008, months after the 2007 election, Acropolis said.

"It has nothing to do with the election," he said in July. "People may try to spin it like that."

Partially resolved is the issue with Township Tax Assessor Fred Millman and his request for $25,000 to assist the township with the revaluation, Pezarras said.

"He's going to do what's statutorily required," Pezarras said, which includes basic oversight and reporting to the county.

The extra $25,000 would have bought Millman's assistance in analyzing the contracted firm's study results and make suggestions to the firm how to fine-tune certain sections of neighborhood classifications, Pezarras said.

Millman did not receive a $25,000 bonus when he assisted during the 1992 revaluation, but he received a $10,000 raise to assist with tax appeals, Pezarras said.

But giving tax assessor bonuses to assist in revaluations is now common practice, Pezarras said.

The revaluation would have a more accurate assessment of homes for a longer period of time if the assessor assists the revaluation firm in its work, he said.

"What has to be analyzed is the trend in the marketplace and where we set assessments," he said. "That makes for a good reval or a bad reval. And that's the expertise the assessor has. He has the luxury of knowing the areas of town, especially long-sitting assessors."

Millman has been the township's tax assessor since 1975.

A decision on who will assist the firm, either a hired contractor or if it will be done in-house, will be made by the council and administration, Matthews said.