Revaluation workers set to hit the streets soon
Township prepares for first revaluation since 1992
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer

Ask Brick Township Administrator Scott M. Pezarras just how many properties in town are assessed at true market value, and he'll have a short answer.

"None."

It's been 15 years since the township's last revaluation. But that will change later this year, once employees from Appraisal Systems Inc., a Mendham firm, hit the streets.

The revaluation firm has already set up shop in Brick with office space and phone lines, Pezarras said.

"It's already started," he said. "They're actually doing preliminary work, gathering information from the assessor's office, to prepare for going out. I would anticipate they would be out by the middle of June."

Township Council members last November hired Appraisal Systems Inc. for $1.46 million to conduct the revaluation. The Ocean County Board of Taxation ordered Brick in February 2005 to complete a revaluation that would take effect in 2008.

But Township Council members decided to delay awarding the bid for the revaluation, because of the overinflated housing market at the time.

"The only thing I want is for people to pay taxes on the fair market value of their houses, not more, not less," said council President Stephen C. Acropolis. "Why don't we wait until it stabilizes, and then people will have a better shot at paying true market value. I don't want people paying taxes on an inflated value of their house."

Appraisal Systems representatives will make two attempts to visit each property initially, Pezarras said.

"If they don't gain access, they will contact you," he said.

Revaluation firms can usually tell what's inside a home, even if they don't actually gain access to the inside, Pezarras said.

"They actually draw the house from the exterior," he said. "You'd be surprised at how much you can tell is in a house just from observing it from the outside."

More than one roof vent pipe means more than one bathroom, he said.

"If you look through the windows on the first floor, you can tell what type of heat it has," Pezarras said. "They don't have to gain access. But they have to set a number."

Residents will receive an initial contact letter sometime in the near future that explains the process, Pezarras said.

Informational meetings with various groups and civic organizations are also planned, he said.

"We are going to do a lot of PR," he said. "It's been so long since the last revaluation."

One-third of township property values traditionally increase, decrease or maintain their value after a revaluation. And the tax rate usually drops by half, Pezarras said.

There are some common misconceptions about what is and isn't added to an assessment in a revaluation, he said.

You're not charged any more for a paver driveway than for an asphalt driveway. The quality of landscaping is irrelevant. But you will be charged more for an in-ground pool or a nice water view, Pezarras said.

"If it's a greater view over a greater expanse of water, it makes a difference in the market," he said.

Anything that is considered a permanent structure is added into the assessment, he said.

Roughly 51 percent of the 33,000-plus properties in the township were assessed at true market value back in 2005, when the county tax board ordered the revaluation.

"Now it's down to 38 and change," Pezarras said. "There's nothing assessed at 100 percent."

The new assessments will be on the books by November 2008. But the numbers won't affect tax bills until January 2009, Acropolis said.